The Time Trekker
by TimeTrekker
Summary: The Enterprise crew find a girl frozen in cryonic suspension aboard a vessel from the year 2073. Where is she from and how will she adjust to life on the Enterprise?
1. Chapter 1

_**Extended summary: Set after Star Trek 2009. Not long after the Enterprise's voyage begins, the crew intercept a distress signal which comes from a ship from the year 2082. Only one crew member remains: a young woman in a cryonic status pod, who wakes up with no memory. This is her journey as she slowly becomes a member of the Enterprise family. Possible Spock/OC romance later.**_

* * *

 **Chapter One**

It had been four months since the _U.S.S. Enterprise_ left the space station with her new captain at the helm. James Tiberius Kirk sat in the captain's chair on the bridge as Lieutenant Uhura patch through a transmission she picked up a few minutes before.

Amid a great deal of static, word that were definitely not Standard could be out.

"What language is this, Uhura?" Kirk asked as the static faded out for a few moments.

"Russian!" Ensign Chekov shouted out excitedly from his navigator' s chair. "Keptin, zat's Russian!"

"I agree, sir," Uhura added. "It's a distress signal..." Without thinking, Pavel Chekov surged to his feet, listening intently.

"Zheir power ees failing..." He translated, despite Uhura being perfectly capable of doing it. "Zey fear losing life support...eet ees a scientific wessel on an experiment..." The young Russian's brow knit in confusion.

"What is it?" Kirk asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"Ze date, Keptin..."

"They aren't using stardates," Uhura said. "They are saying that the date is June 24, 2073."

"2073?" Kirk repeated softly, looming to his first officer, Commander Spock. The Vulcan stood with his hands behind his back, as always, and eyebrow raised as he listened.

"I am not sure what to make of this transmission, Captain," he answered. "Does it say anything else?"

"No, sir," Uhura shook her head. "It just keeps repeating the same message."

Kirk turned to Uhura. "Have you located where it's coming from?"

"Yes, sir. It's coming from a point just beyond Taurus IV."

"Mr. Chekov, please plot a course to intercept."

"Yes, Keptin."

Kirk comments the Med-bay. "Bones, get yourself ready to be part of an away-team. We are heading toward a science vessel from 2073 that is still emitting a distress signal."

"Where is this science vessel, Jim?"

"Taurus IV."

"Earth had civilian space travel that far out back then? That's two hundred years ago!"

"I didn't think so, but apparently the Russians did."

When the _Enterprise_ found the ship, it was drifting, completely dead, scorched, and gaping with holes. The bridge was quiet as they surveyed the damage.

"Scan the vessel, Spock. See what we can find about it," Kirk ordered softly. Spock turned to his console and scanned the ship for any information he could get.

"The vessel has no name listed," Spock reported. "It is marked as a science vessel, but has an unusually high number of weapons for a vessel of its type." Suddenly, he whirled around. "Captain, I am reading a life form on board," he said, tone the closest any of them had heard to awe from him.

"Uhura, hail the vessel," Kirk ordered.

Uhura nodded and sent a standard hailing message. After a minute, she turned back to Kirk. "No response, Captain."

"Prepare a boarding party, Mr. Spock," Kirk said. "Be sure to take McCoy. I want to know how someone could be alive on that ship."

"Yes, sir."

Twenty minutes later, Scotty beamed Spock, McCoy, and two ensigns aboard the nameless Russian ship. The hallways were empty. Spock and Ensign Henderson split off to find the bridge while McCoy and Ensign Brighton continued on to the crew quarters and hold.

In both the bridge and crew quarters, mere skeletons met the _Enterprise_ men.

"Do you hear that?" Ensign Brighton asked McCoy. A faint humming met their ears.

"Sounds like it's coming from the cargo hold." McCoy answered. "Spock, we're investigating the hold," he comments the Vulcan.

"Very well, but use caution. There is still something or someone alive on this ship." came the reply.


	2. Chapter 2

_**I already have a review! Well the site says I do, but when I try to read it, it then tells me there aren't any reviews. If you reviewed, please either resend it or PM me your comment. I'd really love to know what you said.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

Leonard McCoy had joined Starfleet to get away from his ex-wife, and the Academy taught him far more than he imagined it would. However, nothing at the Academy prepared him for the sight that met his eyes in the hold of the Russian ship. A large rectangular metal box stood upright. A pale, bluish light coming from a window near the top of the door on the front and the humming issuing from the device indicated that the machine was miraculously still running.

McCoy inched closer and nearly dropped the phaser he carried. His heart clenched he gazed through the box's window at the frozen face of a young woman.

"She must be the life sign that Commander Spock picked up," Brighton murmured.

"I'd say so," McCoy absently answered, fumbling for his communicator. "Jim, we found the source of the life sign. It appears to be some kind of cryo-chamber. A really old one."

"There's someone in there?"

"Yes, Jim, so for God's sake, please beam me and this thing up! There's no way of knowing how long this machine will keep running."

"Of course, Bones. I'd like a report as soon as possible."

"You got it, Jim," McCoy answered impatiently. A hundred thoughts flew around his mind. Why was this girl in the cryo-chamber? Was it a medical reason? Did she have a condition that could not be healed in 2073? How long had she been frozen? Since the shipment port, or longer?" The big question plaguing his mind was whether or not she would survive the thawing process.

Meanwhile, Spock and Ensign Henderson found a working computer console and began to search the memory banks for logs and any other information that could tell them what the ship's mission was. When they completed downloading all of the data they could find, they found Ensign Brighton still in the hold, examining crates and equipment. He pointed to one piece that faintly resembled a chair and, for some reason, had a sinister aura about it.

"What do you think it's for?" he asked quietly.

"It appears to be scientific equipment," Spock answered calmly. "Perhaps a medical unit of some kind."

"I don't like the look of it..." Brighton muttered. "I'd take Dr. McCoy's whole arsenal of hyposprays over that thing."

Spock simply raised an eyebrow at the ensign before hailing the transporter room. "We have completed our search of the vessel. Three to beam up, Mr. Scott."

* * *

Three hours later, Kirk welcomed a rather haggard looking McCoy to the bridge.

"How is the new patient, Bones?" he asked, voicing the question weighing on the minds of the bridge crew.

"She's doing just fine for now, though the next few hours will be critical," McCoy sighed, leaning heavily on the railing behind the captain's chair. "We are slowly thawing her to minimize damage to her cells."

"I sense something else is bothering you, then," Kirk prompted.

"I've begun to read the files from the ship; Spock sent me the ones that seem to pertain to the girl."

"And?"

"She's nineteen, and they only refer to her as 'Subject 23'."

"Was there any indication as to why she was there?" Spock asked.

McCoy turned tired but blazing eyes on the Vulcan. "Yeah, there was. Their way of referring to her says it all. She's the experiment they were conducting!" He turned to his captain. "They were experimenting on her, Jim! Numerous serums and formula injections, various forms of electroshock treatments...the list goes on..." The doctor ran a hand agitated through his hair and began pacing. "It's like they were trying to resurrect the dang Spanish Inquisition..."

The bridge was completely still and quiet, each person lost in the horror of what had happened to the girl in Sickbay. It was Pavel Chekov who finally broke the silence.

"Vot can ve do to help her?"

"Unfortunately, you might want to steer clear of her for a while," McCoy answered. "No one goes through what she did without scars, and she will probably have an inherent distrust of Russians for a long time, if not for the rest of her life.

The boy's hopeful countenance fell. "But I vant to help her. She ees not zat much older zen me. Vouldn't somevon her age be good for her?"

"Normally, I would say yes," McCoy said. "But it looks like Russians did this to her. She's probably going to think you are one of them."

"But I vould ne-wer hurt her!"

"We know that, Pavel," Sulu soothed the teen with a hand on his shoulder. "But her mind is going to messed up and confused for a while. She's going to be in a survival mode after waking up in a stranger place, and she's going to be relying on her instincts. One of those right now is probably 'Russians are bad'."

Pavel slouched down in defeat. "Wery vell," he sighed. "But someday, I vill change her mind about Russians."

They all smiled at his firm declaration. "I'm sure you will," Uhura said. "I'm sure you will."

* * *

 ** _Please let me know what you think so far. :)_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thanks so much to those who have already reviewed, and followed my story!**_

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

McCoy stood at his newest patient's bedside, performing another check her vitals. The doctor could not help but sigh in relief. The past ten hours he'd been some of the most nerve-wracking of his medical career. He had never actually had to unfreeze a living patient before. When they could find no "thaw" setting on the machine, they had to break it open and unfreeze her the old-fashioned way.

He let his eyes rove her features. She looked fairly normal for a teen; she looked thoroughly human. She could have literally been any Terran kid. She was petite, slender, but toned. Her hair fell to her shoulders in loose coppery curls. Her complexion was quite fair, and was only broken by a faint sprinkling of freckles dusting the bridge of her nose. Nothing to worry about.

What bothered him was the dark circles under her eyes and how she was dressed. Her dark outfit looked like a military uniform and included a black shirt, pants, and combat boots of a unusual design. The deep purple smudges under her eyes spoke of hard training with little sleep. McCoy secretly hoped she would sleep for a while longer. Not only was she healing from the thawing, but she also looked like she needed to recover from whatever happened to her before she was frozen.

He pulled the thick blanket covering her a little more firmly over her shoulders, and he suddenly found himself linking down into a pair of wide hazel eyes.

"Hello, there," he said, quickly taking out his tricorder to scan her. "I'm Doctor McCoy." All of her readings were normal for humans, though this all meant that she healed much faster than anticipated. "Can you tell your name, Miss?" he asked, adding his readings to her PADD chart. The girl remained silent. "Can you understand me, darlin'?"

No response. "I guess you only speak Russian," McCoy sighed. "Well, it's the dead middle of the night, Uhura and Chekov are asleep, and you should be too. I'm just gonna give you a sedative to help you sleep."

She watched him warily as he prepared the hypospray and shrunk away when he approached. "It's just a sedative, darlin'," he soothed. Oddly, she tried to keep him away from her arms instead for her neck. _All those injections,_ he thought. _She's scared because of all the injections those Russians gave her._ He managed to jab her neck as gently as he could and breathed a sigh of relief when her eyes fluttered closed.

* * *

"Good morning, one and all," Kirk greeted as the senior officers seated themselves at the table in the officer's lounge for the daily meeting. "Spock, anything to report?" he asked before sipping his coffee.

"Nothing, sir. However, I do expect a report from the botany lab within the next two day regarding the medicinal qualities of the plants taken from Centauri V."

"Thank you, Mr. Spock," Kirk looked down the table. Only Spock, himself, and, oddly enough, Chekov seemed fully awake. Sulu, Uhura, Scotty, and McCoy all cast bleary gazes at their captain as they clutched mugs of coffee. "How's Engineering, Mr. Scott?"

"Jus' fine 'n dandy, Cap'n," Scotty answered with a yawn. "The ol' girl seems tae be happy with the calm we've had these las' few days, yesterday's little adventure excluded, o' course."

"Very good. Speaking of which, how's our guest in Sickbay, Bones?" Kirk turned his attention to his CMO.

McCoy took a large gulf of coffee before answering. "Healing much faster than anticipated," he answered. "We're wondering if accelerated healing is an effect of one of those dang serums those blasted Russians shot her up with."

"Take it easy, Bones," Kirk warned with a subtle nod toward their youngest crew member.

McCoy dismissed the comment with a wave of his hand. "The kid isn't a blasted Russian; just the ones who did all that crap to her."

"Eet ees okay, Doctor," Pavel nodded. "I am not happy vith ze vons who did zis any more zen you." McCoy saluted the young Russian with his mug.

"Anything else, Bones?"

"Well, she woke up momentarily about 3 AM," McCoy said. "Wouldn't talk though. She was wary of the hypospray sedative I gave her, understandably so."

"Sedative?" Spock whirled an eyebrow. "If she had sufficiently recovered enough to wake, why did you sedate her?"

"Because she looked like crap, Spock. She looked like she had been through a fight and four days of no sleep before they stuffed her in that glorified freezer unit."

"How is she now?" Uhura asked.

"Still asleep. Hopefully for the rest of the day."

"Keep me informed," Kirk nodded before dismissing them for their first shift on the bridge.

* * *

Four hours later, McCoy was bandaging the burnt hand of a Engineering technician when a nurse tapped his shoulder.

"Sir, she's awake."

McCoy nodded and motioned for her to finish bandaging the technician's hand. He had given explicit instructions for the nurse to get him as soon as the girl woke. He was just not expecting it to be this soon.

Slipping behind the privacy curtain he had pulled around her joined, he found a pair of hazel eyes boring into his. He could see fight in those eyes; she was silently daring him to do his worst. With an internal sigh and some... _unsavory_...mental remarks for the ones responsible for holding this girl captive, he checked her vitals.

"Well, your pupil responses and blood pressure are fine," he said conversationally. "respiratory rate, pulse, and temperature are all within normal ranges...You seem to be bouncing back quite well, Miss..." He deliberately left the end of the sentence open, hoping she would give a name. When none was for coming, he pretended to not notice. "Well, I don't know how much you remember from last night, but I'm Dr. Leonard McCoy," he said with a gentle smile that he usually reserved for child patients. Her eyes had not left his face the entire time. After a moment, she nodded.

"Can you understand me?"

Another moment passed. Hazel eyes stared up into a nearly matching pair. Slowly, she nodded again. "Yes." Her voice was raspy as if she had not used it in a long time.

McCoy quickly shook himself out of his surprised stupor. "You got a name, darlin'?"

Her brows knit together for a long moment, eyes closing. Finally, her eyes opened. "I do nae know."

McCoy nodded. "That's alright; maybe it will come back to you. Do you know what year it is?" He was hoping she could confirm how long she had been frozen.

A moment of silence. "Nae."

 _Clearly, she has a case of fairly full-blown amnesia._ "Okay...Well, we found you in some kind of cryo-chamber. Do you know who did this to you?"

Confusion joined the frustration already on her face. "Cryo?"

"Yes," McCoy nodded. "You were basically frozen."

She firmly shook her head. "I do nae remember any freezers. They ne'er told me their names. Th-they ne'er spoke English." Her eyes were pleading with him, as if she expected punishment for her answers.

"It's okay, I think we leave off the questions for now," McCoy soothed, seeing her confusion and agitation. "Maybe you will remember more when you've rested up some more." He laid a hand on her shoulder for a moment, but she flinched away from his touch. "No one is going to hurt you, sweetheart," he said softly. "You just rest easy."

He slipped out from behind the privacy curtain, heading right for the bridge. Though her answers had not really told him much, her words did reveal one thing: their guest was not Russian.

* * *

 _ **Thoughts? I'd love to hear them.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thank you to my lovely reviewers.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

McCoy strode onto the bridge, eager to tell Kirk his news. "Captain?"

"What's up, Bones?" Kirk asked, swiveling to face the doctor.

"She woke up again."

"And?"

"Well, I've got to run some tests when I think she's up for it, but I'm pretty sure we're dealing with amnesia," McCoy sighed. "She can't even tell me her name or a year."

Kirk gave his own sigh. "Was she able to tell you anything about who did this to her?"

"Only that they never spoke English, which she does speak, and she doesn't remember any freezers."

"So nothing really..."

"Her accent did tell me one thing."

"Oh?" Spock turned to McCoy with one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," he answered. "She was probably a long way from home even before she was frozen and shipped out here."

"Bones?"

"She's Irish, Jim. If the thickness of her accent is anything to go by, she was probably born and raised In Ireland."

"Irish?" Sulu gasped from his pilot's chair. "What would Russians want with a Irish girl?"

"How am I supposed to know?" McCoy groused. "It was two hundred years ago!"

"Any ideas, Mr. Chekov?" Kirk turned to the young navigator.

"I'm afraid not, Keptin," he sheepishly answered. "But two hundred years ago...zat vould put it around ze eugenics wars, vouldn't, sor?"

"You are correct, Mr. Chekov," Spock nodded.

"Yes...That would explain all the genetic experimentation on her..." McCoy said. "Lucky for us, most of it failed, and she hasn't displayed any maniacal or superior tendencies yet. I do _not_ want to deal with a second Khan."

"I'll second that," Kirk nodded. "Keep an eye on her, and keep me posted."

"You got it, Jim."

Spock rose from his chair. "Doctor, I was wondering if I might accompany you to the infirmary?"

"Spock?" It was Kirk' s turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I thought perhaps, since she has a rather negative experience with those who claim the medical profession, she may be more willing to speak with someone not of the medical staff," he said. "Not that I doubt your skill, Doctor," he added, dipping his head respectfully in the doctor's direction.

McCoy shook his head. "This really isn't my area of expertise, Spock. I'm just a country doctor."

Spock nodded and turned to Kirk. "Captain?"

"Do you think our guest is up for a visitor, Bones?" Kirk asked.

"Only for a little while," McCoy answered. "And I'm kicking your green-blooded tail out as soon as she shows signs of agitation or distress."

"I would not expect any less from you, Doctor McCoy." Spock nodded with the faintest hint of a smirk at the corners of his lips.

"Sounds fair," Kirk agreed. "Just at try to seem a bit less intimidating, Spock. You go in there with your usual stoic face, she'll probably feel like she's in a criminal interrogation."

Spock tilted his head in response. "I will endeavor to seem more friendly, Captain." He said before leaving with McCoy.

"We'll see how that goes," Uhura said, shaking her head with a grin.

"Indeed," Kirk grinned back.

* * *

In Sickbay, McCoy retrieved a PADD chart from the on-duty nurse. "Okay, vitals have remained normal...has she eaten anything yet?"

"No, sir," the nurse answered. "She took one look at the tray and shook her head."

"Okay, we'll have to do something about that," McCoy nodded. "Has she been talking at all? Asking questions?"

"No, sir."

"Alright." He motioned for Spock to follow him behind the curtain. "Hello again; it's just me. You remember who I am?" He asked gently.

Spock observed the girl as she gazed up at McCoy and nodded. She was fair complected with red hair and hazel eyes. Quite normal for a girl from the western part of Europe. What about her made her the target of a people thousands of miles away?

"Doctor McCoy," her raspy voice softly answered.

"That throat is still sounding a bit raw, are you drinking plenty of water, Miss?" the doctor asked as he began checking her IV. The girl did not answer. "Well, I have a new friend for you to meet," McCoy continued. "This is Commander Spock. He just wants to ask a few questions."

Her eyes turned to the Vulcan, and her expression grew puzzled. Her eyes flick nervously back to McCoy before she met Spock' s gaze.

Spock tilted his head in thought. "Does something about me trouble you?" He asked in as gentle a voice he could muster. She just gazed up at him with wide eyes. "I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me," he continued, taking his cue from McCoy. "Can you tell me your name, Miss?"

She shook her head.

"What was the last year you can remember?"

Again, he received no answer, though her brow furrowed in deep concentration before she shook her head.

If Spock was a true human, he would probably be feeling the beginnings of frustration at the girl's lack of response. However, he was half Vulcan and he allowed his many years of training in patience to come to his aid and keep his face and voice even. "According to the good doctor, you are from Ireland. I know that is a considerable distance from Russia. What can you tell me of these Russians who captured you?"

"Spock, Jim said to try to not sound like an interrogator-"

"Russians?" Finally, the girl spoke.

"Yes," Spock nodded. "It was in a Russian ship that we found your cryo-tube."

"Tha' must o' been why none o' them spoke English," she soft said, speaking more to herself than to Spock and McCoy.

"Yes, I believe that could account for it," Spock said. "Although, it is illogical for none of them to speak Standard to you. I would think they would need to communicate with you."

"They tried," she hesitantly answered. "I thin' they tho' tha' if I heard it e-no' I would jus' pick up their language."

"Hmm, most illogical." Spock said thoughtfully. "Can you tell me anything else about your captors?"

She shot Spock a wary look. "They were connec'ed to the military. Some o' them wore uniforms. Some wore lab coats."

The Vulcan could sense the distrust in the look she sent him as she eyed his uniform. "I see," he answered. "Thank you for your cooperation, Miss. I hope your recovery is speedy and without complications." He gave her a deep nod before leaving.

"McCoy shook his head. "He means well, but his conversation skills are limited to either sounding like a lecture teacher or an interrogator, I think."

"He's the nicest interrogator I e'er had," she murmured.

"Who? The hobgoblin? Nice? Darlin', the only thing he knows how to be is infuriatingly logical." McCoy said. "Just, uh, how many have you dealt with?" He added gently.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I do nae know. I jus' have a feelin'."

"Well, that's something, I guess," McCoy commented. "I'll be back shortly."

Slipping out from curtain, he went to the Mess Hall and grabbed two trays, fixing one for himself and fixing the other one for the girl with as much Earth food as he could. Heading back to his patient, he snagged a tray table and pulled it up to he bedside. He raised the head of her bed so she could sit up.

"Now, Nurse Rossi said you didn't eat lunch this afternoon, so I've brought you an early dinner," McCoy said, pulling the tray table up so that it covered he lap and set her tray in front of her. "Since I had to skip too, I thought I'd keep you company." He sat down in a nearby chair with his tray in his lap.

She looked down dubiously at her tray and shook her head.

"Now, Darlin' you gotta eat," McCoy coaxed.

She shook her head again and crossed her arms.

"Why not?" he asked, feeling his patience ebbing away.

"I'm nae stupid," she huffed. "I know it's drugged."

"Drugged?" McCoy sputtered. "Why do you think I drugged it?"

"I ne'er get real food unless it be drugged. And I did nae give the Commander the answers he wanted."

"Good God, Spock would never drug a kid like you! And I wouldn't let him if he tried!"

The girl scoffed. "It's always ye doctor types that does the druggin'. The commanders jus' give the orders."

"I swear to you by my Hippocratic Oath, I did not drug your food."

She eyed the doctor at her side. He seemed quite earnest, but so many of them were good actors. At least, she thought so...it was more of a feeling than a memory.

"You know what, I'll prove it to you," he huffed at her unmoving face. He took a bite of everything on her tray. "See? Not drugged," he grumbled, sitting back down to eat his own food. Sensing her eyes on him, he glanced up to find her staring at him. "What?"

"Ye would risk bein' drugged too?"

"No," he groused. "I'm not risking anything because it's not drugged!" She opened her mouth to say something, but McCoy beat her to it. "Just eat," he ordered gruffly.

"I was jus' goin' are say thanks," she murmured, picking up her fork.

McCoy looked up to see her contrite expression. Embarrassed, he ducked his head. "You're welcome."

The rest of the meal passed in a comfortable silence. When she finished, McCoy took the tray from her, placing it with his own on the chair to take back to the kitchen. He pushed her table aside and helped her to settle down to take a nap.

"Get some sleep, darlin'; doctor's orders," he said, tucking curl behind her ear. He could have sworn he heard a faint "Aye, doctor, aye," she snuggled down beneath the covers.

* * *

 _ **Remember, reviews = inspiration for writing. ;)**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Thanks once again to my sweet reviewers. Enjoy the next chapter!**_

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

That evening, after the senior officers' last shift of the day ended, they all gathered in one of the rec rooms for some relaxation before going to bed.

"How was your talk with our guest, Spock?" Uhura asked as Scotty dealt cards for a game of Uno. He had discovered and fallen in love with the 20th century game and insisted on teaching the others.

"It was not as fruitful as I had hoped, but it was not a complete failure."

"Oh? What did you find out, Spock?" Kirk asked.

"She has a distrust of those in uniform as many of her captors were seemingly military."

"So if any of us want to visit, we might want to change out of uniform and leave our ranks at the door?"

"That would be an accurate assessment, Captain."

Kirk sighed as he looked down at his cards. That certainly complicated things.

"In short, she doesn't trust any of us," McCoy huffed.

"What makes ye say tha', Doc?" Scotty asked.

"Well, she's afraid that you 'military' types are there to interrogate and hurt her, and she think I'm there to drug her when she doesn't give us the answers we want," McCoy explained. "After Spock left, I brought her an early dinner since the nurse told me that she hadn't touched her lunch. She thought Spock had me drug it because she couldn't answer his questions."

Silence reigned for several minutes.

"Zat ees horrible," Chekov softly said. "She must feel so alone eef she doesn't zink she can trust any-von."

"No kidding," Sulu nodded sadly.

Spock shook his head in disbelief. "Only in very extreme, life or death cases would I even think about condoning such action. Especially on one such as her."

"We know that, Spock," Kirk laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "but she doesn't. The only experience she's had with people like us is far from good."

"On the contrary, Captain, I do not think she has had experience with people like us very much at all. I believe that is her problem."

Kirk grinned at the Vulcan's response. "You know what, I think you are right, Mr. Spock. Let's hope we can change her mind about us."

* * *

The next day, McCoy was greeted by the sight of Chekov entering Sickbay carrying two lunch trays.

"Now, just what do you think you are doin'?" McCoy huffed. "If Jim sent you down to ensure I eat-"

"Actually, I brought eet for our guest," Chekov answered. "Sorry, Doctor, but I vould like to try and make friends vith her."

"Pavel, I think what you are trying to do is great; really, I do, but I really think it's too soon."

"Please, Doctor? I vill leave as soon as she asks me to."

McCoy sighed. On one hand, he knew she would not be trusting or ready to make a friendship with the young Russian, but, on the other hand, it might be good for her to have contact with someone closer to her own age.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." He motioned for Chekov to follow him. They ducked behind the privacy curtain that separated her bed from the rest of Sickbay. "Hey there, how are you feeling this afternoon?" he asked the girl.

"Still sort o' tired," she answered softly.

"Well, your body has had a lot to heal in a short amount of time," McCoy answered encouragingly. "That'll knock anyone down for the count." He did a quick check-up, then positioned her table over her lap. "A friend of mine brought you lunch today, and we thought he could keep you company while you two eat."

A nurse called McCoy away, leaving Chekov to scoot up the chair and introduce himself. "Hello, my name's Pavel." He smiled softly at her as she eyed his uniform. "Vot should I call you?"

She sent him a silent, questioning look.

"Vell, ewen eef you can't remember your name, we have to call you somezing," he answered. "I vould like to call you somezing ozer zen 'hey you'." She just shrugged, and picked up her fork. "Hmmm, Doctor McCoy ees conwinced you are Irish...Paddy...zat ees an Irish name, I zink. Da, I vill call you Paddy," he nodded in satisfaction.

He proceeded to tell her about his morning in Engineering, though it ended up being a very one-sided conversation, and he was not sure how much she actually paid attention to. It did not bother him though. She did not immediately demand he leave, or anything else, so he considered it a small victory.

As he left with a "See you tomorrow, Paddy," he decided to eat as many of his lunches with her as possible. Maybe he could bring Sulu tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Pavel, are you sure this is a good idea?" Sulu asked as he follow his young friend to Sickbay. They were on their lunch break, and the teen insisted on Sulu coming with him to met the girl.

"She did not zhrow me out yesterday," Chekov answered with a nod. "Eet vill be fine, I am sure. I have already promised to leave immediately eef she asks."

"Actually, it's Dr. McCoy I'm worried about. Do you think he'll let us stay?"

"He let me stay yesterday," Chekov shrugged as they stepped through the doors to Sickbay.

The very doctor in question looked up from his PADD as they entered. "Okay, what are you fellas doing in here?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ve are bringing Paddy her lunch." Chekov answered.

"Paddy?" McCoy gave the teen an exasperated look.

"Da, zat ees name I gave her yesterday."

"Oh, the name you gave her," McCoy snarked. "You do realize that she already has a name."

"But she can't remember eet right now, Doctor," he answered. "Ve can't just keep calling her, 'You'."

"Guess you have a point," the doctor huffed, rolling his eyes. "But we can't really call her 'Paddy'."

"Why not?" Sulu asked.

"Eet ees Irish, da?"

McCoy nodded. "Oh, it's Irish alright, but it's usually short for Patrick."

Sulu nodded in sudden understanding, but Chekov remained confused."Patrick isn't a girl's name, Pavel," Sulu added when noticed his friend's confusion.

"Oh." The teen's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I don't know any ozer Irish names."

"Back in th' day, 'Paddy' was a generic term for any Irishman," a voice rang out from behind the privacy curtain. "I can hear ye."

The threesome ducked behind the curtain. "So, eet ees okay eef ve call you zat?"

She shrugged. "Technically, the term does apply, an' I cannae stop ye."

"If you would prefer us to call you something else, we will," Sulu said, extending his hand. "I'm Hikaru Sulu, just call me Hikaru." Hesitantly, she shook his hand. "Pavel and I thought maybe you could use some company. It gets lonely down here, all by yourself."

"It's quiet," she shrugged once more. "I can think."

"Vot about?" Chekov asked.

"Rememberin'." she whispered, playing with sheets in her lap.

"We'll do everything we can to help with that, Darlin'," McCoy said, speaking a softer tone than the younger men could remember hearing him use. She just nodded.

"Until zen, ve can call you Paddy, da?" Chekov asked, placing her lunch tray on her table.

A faint smile graced her lips as she rolled her eyes at the Russian's hopeful face. "Aye, ye can call me Paddy," she answered good-naturedly, as if she was used to humoring a younger sibling.

"Okay, I'll let you kids eat in peace," McCoy said. He pointed to Paddy with a serious look on his face. "You call for me the minute these two knuckleheads get on your nerves, okay? I will hypo them into next week if they aren't perfect gentlemen."

Chekov and Sulu glanced nervously at McCoy as she nodded, though the look in her eyes left the doctor wondering if she knew what he was talking about. He found two chairs for the young men and left the trio to eat.

"So you really can't remember anything?" Sulu asked Paddy. "I can't imagine what that must be like."

"I have bits 'n pieces; flashes, but no' much. No' much I care tae recall. Most o' is dark, cold, an'...an'...painful..." she trailed off softly.

Sulu laid a gentle hand on her shoulder causing her jump slightly. "I'm sorry, Paddy. We all are." She did not answer, but looked down at her folded hands in her lap. Sulu turned to Chekov and asked about his shift in Engineering the day before.

Paddy silently ate her food, lost in thought. There was so much she knew she should remember but did not. Parents; all people have parents, that much she knew. Yet, her mind could conjure up no image or memory of any people that fit that description. The doctor had called her Irish. While she somehow knew the tidbit about the nickname Paddy, the only thing that really came to mind when she thought of Ireland was the color green.

However, the thing weighing heaviest on her mind was home. She wanted to go home so badly, but she had no idea where home really was.

While she contemplated her desert pudding, she couldn't not help but watch the boys out of the corner of her eye. There was something familiar about the way they interacted together: the way Pavel motioned wildly with his hands as he grew more and more earnest and excited about whatever he was talking about, the genuine interest in Hikaru's face as he patiently listened to the hyper teen, the camaraderie they shared. She had to suppress a giggle as Hikaru gave Pavel a light shove for something the teen said. It was so familiar...

Suddenly, a jolt of pure pain stabbed through her head. Crying out, she clutched her head in her head, shoving her table away. She raised her knees to chest and buried her face in them in an attempt to block out the rest of the world. Faintly, her mind registered voices calling to her, hands trying to hold her, but all she could focus on was the pain. A thousand knives stabbed through her skull over and over.

She knew it had been too good to be true. Their kindness, their gentleness...They even gave her a name this time...but it was too good to last. No matter how nice to her they were, they always hurt her in the end. They always brought more pain and suffering.

Then, images began to flash before her eyes. Two dark-haired boys, one about ten years old and the other around eight, sat at a wooden table with a several little piles of Legos in front of them. The elder one held the instruction manuel and was helping to guide the younger one in building the space ship picture on the box. Both were talking excitedly about all of space adventures that Astronaut Legoman was going to have in the completed vessel.

The scene changed, and the younger boy was now older, sixteen or seventeen, and sat next to a twelve-year-old boy with bright red curls. They were on a bench outside somewhere, and the twelve-year-old was talking very animated about something. The older one laughed and lightly pushed the younger one so that he nearly fell over. Both were laughing and grinning widely.

Then, she was standing on a pier on what appeared to be a lake. Whooping and hollering behind her caught her attention and she turned to see all three boys running towards the pier in nothing but their jeans. The eldest, now eighteen or nineteen, ran past her and jumped into the lake, closely followed by the sixteen and twelve-year-olds. The boys splashed and dunked each other, their shouts echoing off the water. They began calling and begging for her to join them. She giggled and was just about to jump in when she suddenly felt a sting on her neck and her vision began to darken. Her last thought before unconsciousness overtook her was her beloved brothers' names.

 _Aiden...Keith...little Pat..._

* * *

 ** _Thoughts? Ideas? Review, and let me know._**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Sulu was listening to Pavel recount a prank that Scotty played on a couple of technicians the day before, when Paddy suddenly cried out in pain. She curled into the fetal position, holding her head in her hands. Pavel instantly ran to find Dr. McCoy, and Sulu tried to comfort her as best he could, pulling her into his arms and holding her to his chest until McCoy arrived.

"It's her head, Doctor," Sulu quickly explained.

McCoy turned to find the hypospray he wanted. "Try to hold her still, Sulu," he said. "I'm gonna have to sedate her." As gently as he could, McCoy administered the sedative, and she relaxed, unconsciousness, in Sulu' s arms. "Now, tell me exactly what happened," the doctor demanded.

"Ve vere just talking, Hikaru and I, and she suddenly just screamed," Pavel said.

"That's all?" McCoy looked to Sulu. "There has to be more to it that that. People usually don't get that level of a migraine like that. There has to be some kind of trigger; we're you to getting loud or something?"

"No, sir," Sulu answered with a shake of his head as he eased Paddy back down to her pillows. "Pavel, you'd better gather the trays; our break is almost over." The teen grabbed Paddy's tray as well his own, as Sulu retrieved his own from the floor where he dropped it in his haste to help Paddy.

"May ve come back after our shift to check on her, sor?" Pavel asked McCoy, glancing worriedly at Paddy.

The doctor ran his hand through his hair wearily. "I reckon so, but she is gonna need to rest after an episode like that."

"We'll just pop in for a few minutes after dinner," Sulu assured him. "Come on, Pavel, she'll be fine with McCoy."

* * *

 _She moved close to her father as three tall, burly men surrounded them. She and her father were on foot, walking the fence of their north pasture. In the distance, she could hear the sheep loudly bleating their displeasure at menacing strangers, who were mounted on horseback._

 _"We do nae want trouble, mister," the leader, a man with dark hair and a smile that gave her chills, said. "We jus' want yer girl, there." His tone was conversational, as if they were discussing weather._

 _Her father took half a step forward so that she was partially behind him. "We'll, if she's what ye are wantin', then it's trouble ye are goin' tae be gettin'. Ye cannae have my daughter; I know what really happens at tha' 'Institute' o' yers."_

 _"Is tha' so?" The dark man answered. "An' jus' what do ye think happens at our Institute?"_

 _"Those kids are nae students; ye use the poor lads an' colleens as guinea pigs fer yer sick experiments!"_

 _A fourth rider approached. "Eldest boy is taken care of," he said to the dark haired man._

 _"Aiden!" she cried._

 _"Wha' have ye done to my son?" Her father demanded._

 _"Taken care o' him," the leader repeated with a chilling grin. "Like yer daughter, he has great potential. He will attend the Institute as well; he be a superior lad, and we'll teach him how tae use it."_

 _"Nay!" her father cried, "If ye so much as touch a hair on my lad's head, I'll-"_

 _The leader suddenly jumped of his horse, pulling a pistol out of his holster. He pointed at her father at point-blank range. "Ye'll do wha'? I'm afraid ye won't be much o' a help tae yer kids dead."_

 _Her father was still for several long moments, then suddenly, he threw a punch to the leader's face. The last thing she heard before the crack of a gun shot rang out was her father's last words:_

 _"Run, Gael!"_

* * *

 _She sat in front of the leader on his horse, his iron grip across her chest holding her in place. Beside them, one of men held an unconscious Aiden before him in the saddle. They watched as three other men locked her mother, Keith, and Pat in the three hundred year old thatched cottage they lived in and threw torches onto the roof. Soon the little house was ablaze. As they rode away, she could hear the cries and screams of her brothers and dear mother._

She jolted awake, drenched in sweat and her own tears, tangled in her sheets. Her family...They were dead...murdered...They were gone...ripped away...

She curled into a tight ball, sobbing her grief into her pillows. Time lost all meaning to her as she cried and cried. Suddenly, warm, strong arms engulfed her, and she felt herself pulled up to someone's broad chest. She latched onto the front his shirt and let him rock her gently back and forth and stroke her hair.

* * *

McCoy walked into Sickbay to tell the nurses on duty to take their afternoon break. He had reported the incident at lunch to Kirk, then retreated to his office to catching up on his paperwork. He had lost track of the time; he was supposed to relieve the nurses thirty minutes ago. As he entered, he was met with the sounds of sobbing. Not just crying; the anguished sobs of a heart shattered by unspeakable grief. He ran to the only occupied bed and ripped back the curtain. Paddy was scrunched up in a tight ball in the sheets, sobbing so hard she could hardly breathe. None of the nurses were in sight. _They must have gone on break and forgot to tell me._

Without second thought, he scooped her up, and sat on the edge of the bio-bed, holding her close. He gently rocked her back and forth, whispering comfortingly to her. He felt his heart break as she gripped the front of his uniform tightly in both hands and buried her face in his shoulder.

"It's okay. I've gotcha, Darlin'... Ol' Doc McCoy's gotcha." He whispered soothingly, carefully combing his fingers through her shoulder-length curls.

Slowly, her sobs diminished into sniffles. He tried to lay her back down, but she clung to him. Even though she was nineteen and too old for that sort of thing, McCoy didn't have the heart to force her let go. He had not read all of her file from the ship, but he had read enough to know that she was fourteen when they took her from her home in Ireland.

Five years. The devils had taken five years from the girl he held. She basically lost her teen years, some golden years of a young person's life, the day they took her, forcing her to grow up well before her time.

Instead of making her let him go, he eased up onto the bed and leaned back on the headboard, allowing her to snuggle down at his side with her head on his chest.

"You wanna talk about what happened, Darlin'?" He asked softly.

She took a deep, shuddering breath. "Pavel and Hikaru made me remember somethin'...my brothers," she whispered. "Aiden was five years older than me, Keith was three years older, an' Patrick was two years younger. Hikaru and Pavel reminded me o' Keith an' Pat an' the way they teased each other."

"Was?"

She sniffed as tears threatened to fall again. "When they took me, they took Aiden too. They...they...Sh-shot Daddy...They locked Mum, Keith and Pat in th' h-house...b-burnt it...down..." She buried her face in his chest once most as tears slipped from her tired eyes once more.

McCoy felt like he had dealt a blow to the stomach as he listened to her tell him of her family's demise. "Oh, Darlin', I'm so sorry," he managed to choke out as his anger at the ones responsible for harming so many innocent people blazed so hot that it threatened to render him speechless.

"Gael," she whispered. "My name is Gael."

"That's a beautiful name," he whispered back. "We'll have something to tell those troublemakers, Sulu and Chekov, when they come back."

Her grip on his shirt tighten. "They're all gone...I'm alone..."

"I've a gotcha, you hear? I'm not lettin' you go on alone. I'm here and I've got ya." He held her tightly, never letting go as she fell asleep in his arms.

The nurses found him there when the next shift came in, watching her as she slept on his chest, gently running his fingers through her coppery tresses.

* * *

 _ **Thanks so much to my wonderful followers, favoriters (yes, I just made of the word) and reviewers! You are my inspiration to continue!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

A few hours later, Chekov, Sulu, and Kirk strode down the hallway to Sickbay. When their captain learned that his pilot and navigator were visiting their mysterious guest, he invited himself to go with them. They entered Sickbay and were greeted by one of the nurses.

"Where's Bo-"

She immediately put her finger to her lips. "Follow me, Captain," she whispered. She led them around the privacy curtain, and the men's jaws dropped. Their gruff doctor was asleep, leaning on the headboard, the girl snuggled close to his side. He had one arm around her, the other hand resting on his PADD in his lap. "He was there when we came on shift," the nurse explained. "She wouldn't let go of him, so he asked me to bring him his PADD so he could work on paperwork. He must have fallen asleep at some point about an hour ago. They look so content, I haven't had the heart to wake him."

"That they do, Nurse, that they do," Kirk smirked as Chekov and Sulu covered both of them with the light blanket draped across the foot of the bed. Pulling out his comm, he turned on the camera mode and took a picture. _Perfect blackmail material_ , he thought.

"Come on, guys, I think she's doing just fine." Kirk said, motioning for the younger men to follow him.

* * *

The next morning at the senior officers' meeting, Kirk looked down the table at McCoy. "How's Miss Frozen doing since her episode yesterday?" he asked.

"She slept most of the afternoon," McCoy answered. "I wanna run some tests. She remembered the day she was taken from her family when she woke from the sedative. I think there must be a connection between the headaches and remembering."

"Vot makes you zink zat?"

"She said watching you and Sulu was what triggered it," McCoy explained. Sulu and Chekov shared a worried look. "You reminded her of two of her brothers." McCoy continued. "If trying to remember is what triggers these episodes, I want to see if there is we can do to minimize the pain." He pulled his PADD from his lap onto the table to check her charts. "Other than that, she should be free to go a few days, though I'd feel better if she could be assigned a room fairly close to Sickbay, so I'll be close if she has another episode."

Kirk nodded. "I think that could be arranged. Anybody have anything to report?" He glanced around the table. "No? Then to your places everyone."

McCoy returned to the Sickbay to discuss running some tests with Gael. Also vaccines. Since she was from the early 2000's, there was a whole lot of diseases that she had never contact with, and he was not, after all she had lived through, risking her life by assuming that she had an advanced immune system just because she was healing quickly from her few centuries in cryo-stasis.

He was pleased to see a nurse leaving with Gael' s empty breakfast tray. They were one step closer to getting her to fully trust them. "How are you feelin' this morning , Miss Gael?" He asked as he ducked around the curtain. "I saw that you made short work of your breakfast this mornin'."

She grinned guiltily. "I've always been fond o' pecan pancakes."

McCoy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Is that so? If I had known that was all it would take to get you to eat I would made you some days ago," he huffed with good-natured grin of his own and a shake of his head. "You can tell us these things, you know, Darlin'."

"What things?"

"Your preferences," a new voice rang out as the curtain was pulled back to reveal Kirk. He was grinning. "Man, if I had known finding you a 21st century kid to work with would put you in such a good mood, I would have tried to do it long ago." He turned to Gael. "Don't let this guy fool you with his Southern charms; he's a down-right grizzly bear most of the time."

"Only to people who skip out on their required physicals, Jim."

"But their so boring, Bones!" Kirk moaned. "Besides, if I feel fine, what's the point in sitting under all your torture devices only for you to tell me I'm fine?" He continued, then turned back to Gael, extending his hand. "Jim Kirk, Miss."

"Gael," she answered shyly. "I'm Gael."

"Oh, Gael is it? Poor Chekov is going to be disappointed. He seemed so proud that he had named you Paddy." He grinned. "I think Gael is much prettier," he leaned down and staged whispered to her. Her grin widen at his antics.

"Thanks ye, sir,"

"Hey, she's a polite one, Bones! Unlike some others I could mention..."

"And I'll be polite to you, kid, the day you come in here, sit yourself down, and submit to a real, full-fledged, Starfleet regulation physical."

"Aw, come on, Bones!"

"Bones, nothin'," McCoy interrupted, trying to shoo Kirk out. "Now get back to your bridge. I need to talk to Miss Gael about some tests and vaccines."

Gael felt her blood run cold at the words "tests and vaccines". That sounded an awful lot like code words for experiments. She was really beginning to trust Dr. McCoy. The way he had held her yesterday had warmed her heart like nothing else since she was taken. She felt so safe...protected...cared for with him, but he said those words, all of her old fears about him came back.

"Hey, you okay?" Jim Kirk' s voice broke through her thoughts. Her head shot up, her wide, nervous eyes darting between Jim and McCoy.

"Please, nae more tests," she whispered shakily. She pulled her knees up to chest, hugging them tightly. "Please nae more...I can't...nae...please..." She trailed off weakly, tears filling her eyes.

McCoy was kneeling by her side in an instant. "I just want to find a way to help you with your episodes. If there is a way to help you find your memories without so much pain, I want to find it for you, Darlin'."

"Nae more...please, nae more..." she shook her head, her eyes pleading.

"Gael, darlin', you might not have to go through all that pain. You've already been through so much." McCoy pleaded with her. "I'm not experimenting on you, I promise."

"Bones would never do anything to hurt you, Gael," Kirk said, uncharacteristically serious. "And if he tried, he'd find himself marooned on some distant uninhabited planet, per request of the whole crew."

Gael shot him and alarmed look. "Planet? Crew?"

"Yeah, crew. How else do you run a starship?" Kirk answered, confusion showing on his face.

"Starship?" Gael was growing more and more alarmed with each word Kirk said.

"Sweetheart, this the _USS Enterprise._ "

McCoy cut in. "Darlin', where do you think you are?" he asked gently.

"One o' th' Institute's bases," she whispered.

"Institute? What institute?" Kirk asked in confusion.

"That's who took her from her family," McCoy answered. "Gael, we aren't with this Institute. This a Federation starship; we're all members of Starfleet."

"Federation? Starfleet?"

Just then, Chekov and Sulu entered, carrying lunch trays. "What's wrong?" Sulu asked, quickly setting the trays he carried down on a near by bed.

"I'm tryin' to convince her to let me give her vaccines. I, for one, don't want her to die from no protection against Andorian shingles or somethin'," McCoy replied.

"Where are we?" Gael suddenly asked Chekov and Sulu.

"Um, ve vere in ze tventy-fourth sector-"

"Where. Are. We?" she repeated, carefully emphasizing each word.

"We're on a starship," Sulu answered, confused. "the _USS Enterprise._ "

She stared at them for several long moments.

McCoy was beginning to get worried. "Gael?"

Suddenly, she tossed her sheets back and dashed out of Sickbay. They were so shocked that it took a moment for the men to have the presence of mind to go after her. Thankfully, she did not go far. They ran out and found her at the end of the hall, standing in front of a large window showing a star-strewn view of space. She sank to knees as they approached, staring out of the window.

"Tha'..."

"That's space, Paddy," Chekov said gently. "Vere did you zink ve vere?"

"Laboratory," she whispered. "This is impossible..."

"What do you mean? Of course it is." Kirk said.

"No, it is not!" Gael cried, turning on her knees to him. "No one has this kind o' space travel!"

"Earth has this kind of space travel for centuries," Sulu calmly explained, kneeling beside her. "You were frozen for a long time."

Her breathing grew ragged. "How long?"

"We guessing around 300 years," McCoy said. "Come on, Darlin', we need to get you back to Sickbay. This is why I want to give you a few vaccines; there's a host of diseases out there you've had no contact with before." Gael said nothing but let Sulu and Chekov guide her back to her bed in Sickbay.

"This just got really complicated, didn't it?" Kirk sighed.

"Yeah," McCoy replied, running his hand through his hair. "and I have feelin' that I probably just lost what trust she had in me."

"I don't know, Bones, she seems to trust you a lot," Kirk suddenly grinned.

"What makes you think that?"

"Young ladies like Gael don't curl up with guys they don't trust."

"Dang it, Jim, what are you talkin' about?"

If Kirk did not know better, he would say McCoy actually blushed. "As if you didn't know, Bones," he smirked, pulling out his comm. He brought the holopicture he took the day before.

"Where...how...?"

"Pavel, Sulu, and I came down after our shift. You were out cold," lurked answered. "Not that I blame you. If I had a cute, little thing like her latched onto me, I wouldn't go anywhere either."

"Dang it, Jim, don't talk about her like that." McCoy hissed. "She's just a scared kid who lost her parents much too early in life."

"What? I didn't say anything." Kirk held up his hands in surrender.

"You implied," McCoy retorted. "With you, that's the same thing. We all know how you are, Jim." Kirk opened his mouth to reply, but McCoy beat him to it. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have a traumatized patient waiting on me." He strode past Kirk into Sickbay to find Gael sitting on the edge of her bed, Chekov sitting on one side of her, Sulu on the other. The Asian man held her hand while the young Russian had a hand on her shoulder.

"The vaccines really aren't that bad," Sulu said as McCoy approached. "We've both had a bunch of them. It's just a few stings in the neck, and it's done."

"He ees right, Paddy," Chekov said. "I have had lots of zem." He ducked his head. "I used to get sick alot ven I vas younger." He looked up at McCoy. "Vould it hurt me eef I took ze waccines too? To show her zey von't hurt her."

"I don't think so," McCoy nodded. "You've already had most of the illnesses I want to inoculate her against anyway."

"How vould zat be?" Chekov asked Gael. "I'll take zem first, and you can vatch Dr. McCoy do eet." She looked up at him, seeming to search his face for deceit. "I promise, I vould not be doing zis unless I had complete faith in ze doctor." Slowly, she nodded, and hesitantly slipped her hand in his. "Good," he smiled widely. "Ve vill be right here ze whole time, von't ve, Hikaru?"

"Of course," Sulu gently squeezed her hand.

"Okay, let's do this so you kids can eat," McCoy said. He carefully prepared the hyposprays and brought them over on a rolling table. He picked up the first one and lightly jabbed Chekov's neck with it. "See? Nothin' to worry about, Darlin'." He picked up the next one, and gently brushed her hair back so he could see her neck. She squeezed the younger men's hands tightly as McCoy gently pressed the hypospray to her neck, and she gasped when she felt the sting. They continued the same way for all six vaccines, Gael receiving little words of encouragement from all three men.

"All done," McCoy said as he pressed the last hypo to Gael's neck.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Sulu smiled, slipping an arm around her.

"You did really vell, Paddy," Chekov added, with a grin of his own.

"Oh, don't you have something you wanna tell these two?" McCoy asked, grinning as he brought Gael her lunch tray.

She slipped her hands from theirs and began twisting them nervously. "Um...me...me name's Gael..."

"Gael? That's really pretty," Sulu smiled. "Is that Irish?"

"Aye, it means Irish, actually. 'Tis where the word 'Gaelic' comes from."

"So I can't call you Paddy any more?" Chekov asked, almost seeming to pout.

"Pavel, you knew we were only using that until she remembered her name," Sulu gently scolded the teen. "Besides, it's too nice of a name to not use it."

"Mister Chekov can call me wha' he likes, Mister Sulu," Gael shrugged. "I've nae been called by my name since in was fourteen."

"No, I vill call you Gael," Chekov said. "Please, call me Pavel."

"It's just Hikaru, Gael," Sulu added with smile.

She gave a tentative smile of her own. "Thank ye, Pavel. Thank ye, Hikaru." She glanced down at her lunch. "I guess ye had better eat afore her lunch break is o'er."

They retrieved their trays and sat back down, the trio falling into quiet conversation as they ate sitting side-by-side.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

That evening, McCoy gave her one last check up before retreating to his office for the night. Over the last week or so, it had sort of become, well, a tradition for McCoy to give Gael her last check up and to...help her settle for the night...before the night shift came in. He refused to consider it "tucking her in" like some of the giggly nurses did. Doctors don't tuck their patients in; nurses might, but not doctors like McCoy. Now, he, of course, would help a patient settle down for the night, if that is what the patient needed, but that was totally different.

"How are you holding up, Gael?" he asked as he entered his tricorder readings on his PADD chart. "I know this all is a a lot to take in."

"'Tis a bit o'erwhelmin'," she answered. "I keep thinkin' I will wake up tomorrow and find it all tae be a dream. If this is dream, I hope I ne'er wake up."

"Why is that?" McCoy asked as he tugged her sheets up around her shoulders.

She looked up at him, eyes shining with unshed tears. "'Cause ye have all been so good...and k-kind...tae me. I cannae remember the last time I felt e'en a little bit safe."

McCoy felt his heart ache at her words. "We are not gonna let anything happen to you, Gael. I think you are basically one of us now, and we take care of our own. That's the kind of people we are."

She nodded and, tentatively, raised her arms. He immediately answered her silent request and pulled her into a tight hug. "I gotcha; we all do, okay?" She nodded into his chest, her affirmative muffled by his shirt. "Now, get some sleep, Darlin'," he said, releasing her. "I'm headin' to my office for a few hours. The night shift should be here soon if you need anything."

"G'night, Doctor," she mumbled sleepily and snuggled down on her side. He tucked a stray curl behind her ear and, without thinking, kissed her temple.

* * *

The next morning, about an hour after breakfast, Gael received her first visitor of the day: Uhura. The young woman strode in a good size sack with her and a determined expression.

"What are you doing here, Lieutenant?" McCoy asked, meeting her near the door. "I thought you were on the bridge in the mornings. Don't tell me Kirk already found a way to get you all in trouble."

"Nope, switched shifts with a friend this morning," she answered.

"Then why are you here?"

"For one, I haven't meet Gael yet. Two, it has come to my attention that she is supposed to be released in a couple of days, and all she has to wear is that awful outfit she arrived in. That, McCoy, is unacceptable."

Gael smiled to herself as she listened. This lieutenant sounded a lot her Aunt Claire. Definitely a "go get 'em" kind of girl. She had asked for the curtain to remain open that morning, so Gael watched as the dark-skinned woman faced off with the gruff doctor.

"What's wrong with the scrubs we gave her?"

"Everything! Anybody who sees her will think she escaped Sickbay and try to bring her back. And the black get-up is definitely not the color for a fair, red-head like her."

"Who cares what color she wears?"

"She might! She is a girl, after all, McCoy." Uhura answered in exasperation.

"Yes, Lieutenant, as her doctor, I am well aware that she is a girl!"

"Then, let me in, and let us girls get to know each other."

With a huff, McCoy threw up his hands in surrender, and Uhura smiled. Turning to Gael, she walked up to bed with her hand outstretched. "Nyota Uhura," she grinned widely.

"Gael," the teen smiled back.

"Well, I've brought some clothes from the supply chain closet for you to try on. Let's see if we can wow the guys when you get released," Uhura winked.

"Sounds fun. I have nae had a choice in clothes in forever."

McCoy watched the exchange with a grin and shook his head. How girls could bond so quickly over something like clothes boggled his mind, but who was he to question it?

Uhura closed the curtain around Gael's bed and began dumping her sack at the foot. "I didn't know your size. I'm afraid all that I had to go on was Kirk, Sulu, and Chekov's vague descriptions," she said, sorting dresses from bottoms and tops. "Kirk suggested a basic Starfleet uniform in case you ever end up coming off world with us." She held up a red dress just like hers.

"Um...I don't suppose they come in blue? Or longer?"

Uhura grinned knowingly. "As a matter of fact they do come in blue, but I'm afraid they only come in one length." No idea why she would want a blue one, she thought.

"Oh," Gael nodded. "It's just, th' las' time I wore somethin' tha' short, th' lads kept whistlin' and sayin' things tha' made me feel dirty."

"Well, if they do that here, you tell me, and I'll sort them out for you," Uhura said firmly. "Try it on." Gael stripped off the scrubs she was wearing and pulled the dress over her head. Uhura smiled and nodded her approval, making mental to find one in a different color. The dress fit Gael perfectly. "Awesome," Uhura said. "Let's try some of these tops."

An hour later, Gael had a small pile of Uhura-approved clothes, and put a pair of khaki pants and a lavender button down shirt, very similar to the ones she remembered her mother wearing. Uhura helped her pull half of her hair up into a gold barrette that had the Starfleet emblem on it.

"I fellel much better now," Gael sighed happily. "I actually feel properly dressed. I always feel awkward when Pavel and Hikaru come in, like they are seein' me in me pajamas."

"Well, they basically were. Lucky for you, those two are perfect gentlemen."

"Ladies, you done yet in there?" McCoy's voice sounded from the other side of the curtain. "So sorry to interrupt girl bonding time, but it's time for Miss Gael's check up." His voice held a hint of sarcasm when he said "sorry".

"I don't know, girl, he doesn't sound very sorry, does he?" Uhura said loudly, winking at Gael.

"Nay, nae at all," she giggle back.

With an impatient huff, McCoy ripped back the curtain. "She was just trying a few clothes on. Why in heaven's name does that take an hour?" he groused at the communication officer.

"Because we were actually enjoying ourselves, McCoy," Uhura rolled her eyes. "I'll see you around, Gael," she hugged the teen. "You, me, and Carol Marcus will have to get together for a girls night once this grouch lets you go."

"I'd like tha'," Gael smiled shyly.

McCoy rolled his eyes. "It's just a couple of more days. I'm monitoring her reaction to the vaccines."

Uhura nodded in understanding. "Well, I've got to get back to the bridge. Later, Gael." She waved to the Irish girl as she left with the sack containing the clothes they rejected.

McCoy pulled out his tricorder and began to scan Gael, sneaking glances at her new clothes. He really could not deny that she looked a lot more comfortable in the simple outfit. And the light purple contrasted nicely with her coppery hair. Not that he would tell Uhura that.

He finished up his check up and entered the readings into her charts. "Well, you seem to be doing quite well. No adverse reactions yet," he said. "You do look nice, by the way," he added softly. "That, um, color...it suits you." McCoy had no idea why he felt the need to say it, but it was out before he could stop it.

"Thank ye, Doctor," she murmured, blushing. Gael did not know why she was so glad to get McCoy's approval, but the same warm feeling that would blossom in her chest when her father gave her compliments sprung up inside her at his words.

At lunch, Pavel and Sulu entered Sickbay to find Gael's curtain open. She sat in the middle of her bed, Indian style, rolling up the sleeves of a new lavender blouse to her elbows. "Gael?" Sulu asked, in amazement.

"Hello, lads," she greeted them with a smile.

"Where did you get the outfit?" Sulu replied.

"Nyota-I mean Lt. Uhura- came and gave me some clothes from the store room."

"Eet looks wery nice," Pavel smiled as he sat beside her on the bed.

"Thanks," she smiled back. "How was yer mornin', lads?"

"Pretty quiet, actually," Sulu answered, pulling up a chair for himself.

"Until ze Keptin started singing 'Ze Song Zat Ne-wer Ends' ven he got bored."

"Ye mean tae tell me tha' song is still around?" Gael face-palmed. "O' all th' songs tae ne'er be forgotten, why was tha' one o' them? Aiden used tae drive us all nigh crazy with tha' song."

"It was around in your day too?"

"Aye, Hikaru, aye. 'Twas old back then."

The rest of the lunch was spent in a deep conversation on what pop culture things had survived into modern age. Halfway through the meal, Kirk showed up, adding his loud voice to mix. McCoy grinned wryly as he watched their avid conversation. Gael looked so relaxed. Maybe the "crazy kids", as he dubbed them, were good for her.

* * *

 _ **So just a little fluffy one...yeah... Thanks once more to my reviewers, favoriters, and followers! You guys are awesome!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's note: This chapter has mentions of sexual abuse. Nothing really explicit, but I just felt that you should be warned.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Ten**

McCoy was supposed to be doing paperwork, but he was actually reading the files they had pulled from the old ship. It was a really good thing he had eaten hours ago; the callous, detached way the reports described what they did to Gael and her reactions to it was absolutely sickening.

A knock at his door startled him out of his thoughts of the hundreds of terrible deaths he could inflict on the people responsible for all of things Gael endured. He looked up to find Dr. Carol Marcus poking her blonde head around the door. "Do you have a moment, Doctor?"

"Of course." He motioned for her to take a seat on the other side of his desk.

"I was wondering if I might have a interview with...um...Gael, is it?"

"Yeah, her name's Gael," McCoy nodded. "What is it you want to discuss with her?"

"Well, we retrieved some of the equipment from the Russian vessel, and, well, we can't figure out the purpose of some of it."

McCoy shook his head. "I'd really do not want put her trying to remember that. She is just beginning to trust us. If she finds out you are trying to make that torture equipment work, she will lose all trust in us. Maybe for good. Besides," he continued. "It's all in these dang sadists' files. I'll send them to you." He picked up his PADD and sent the files to Carol's. "Just don't read while you eat. You'll lose your appetite real quick, fast, and in a hurry."

"That bad?" she winced.

"Already lost more than a few hours of sleep," McCoy tiredly ran a hand through his hair.

"That explains the picture Jim showed me," she mused. "Thanks for the warning."

"What picture?"

"Oh, I think you know which one," she grinned mischievously.

"Dang it," he grumbled. "I'm gonna kill that kid."

"Oh, come now, Doctor. I think it was sweet." She laughed, then sobered. "I think it's what she really needs."

McCoy nodded. "Good night, Doctor Marcus,"

"Good night...Bones..."

"Not you too!"

Carol just giggled as she left the office.

* * *

 _Gael sat in a dark, damp cell. Only one tiny window about the size of her head up near the ceiling let in any light. The center block walls and concrete floors were icy to the touch. Shivering in the thin black cotton pants and t-shirt she had been given to wear, she pulled her knees up to her chest in an attempt to conserve her own body heat._

 _One year. It had been one year since she had been captured by "the Institute". She was fifteen now. Aiden would be twenty, Keith would be eighteen, and Pat would be thirteen. Her parents would have been so proud as they celebrated each milestone throughout the year: birthdays, high school marks, anniversaries, Christmas..._

 _Suddenly the iron door of her cell opened. A tall, blonde haired man entered. For several long moments he stared at her, looking her over. She felt like a piece of meat at the butcher shop, and he was trying to decide the best way to cut her up. He said something with a smile that made her blood run cold. Although, she could not understand him or any of the others in this place, she was fairly sure it was German that they all spoke._

 _Another test. He must here for another test. She always got "high marks" on their tests; she actually survived them. No one else had made it as long as she had. Most only lasted a few months._

 _She began to mentally prepare herself. Pain. Their "tests" were nearly always excruciating._

 _They man spoke again. All she could do was stare blankly up at him. He yelled his demand to her. Suddenly, he was kneeling in front of her, whispering cruelly in her ear. His breath on her skin send a shiver down her spine. His hand slipped under the hem of her shirt to caress the sensitive skin of her waist._

 _"Nay!" She cried, crawling away._

 _He grabbed the collar of her shirt, yanking her close to him. With a loud ripping sound, he tore apart her shirt..._

"Nay!" She screamed, bolt upright in bed. It was the middle of night. She frantically gazed around, taking in the now familiar sight of the Enterprise Sickbay.

Closing her eyes, he felt her stomach churn as the ghostly sensation of countless men touching her, kissing her...

Suddenly, she threw back the sheets and frantically searched for a trash can or sink. Spying the hand wash station in the corner, she stumbled to it and barely made it before her dinner made a reappearance. Gael sensed one of the night shift nurses hold her hair back and rub soothing circles as she continued to retch into the sink. The nurse was asking her questions, but all Gael could hear was the haunting, seductive phrases of German, French, Russian, and a few other languages she could not identify that swirled around her mind.

Her weak legs gave out, and she sank to floor by the sink, the nurses trying to keep her from falling. Tears silently tracked down her cheeks as she continued to dry-heave there on the floor, the images of her abusers flashing behind her eyelids.

Suddenly, the flustering nurses were gone, and strong, warm arms engulfed her. Her head jerked head jerked up and her eyes met a pair of hazel ones. At first she struggled, but then she remembered.

McCoy. McCoy had hazel eyes. McCoy was safe. She blinked and her swimming vision came into focus. McCoy was there, holding her. She sagged with relief in his arms, still weakly dry-heaving.

* * *

McCoy sighed as he powered down his PADD for the night. Or early morning, rather. He was just trying to decide if it was worth it to walk all the way back to his room, or if he was just going to lay down in the couch in his office for a few hours sleep, when a scream from the ward ripped through the silence of the night. He dashed through to the ward to find Gael in a crumpled heap by the the hand-wash station with both of the night shift nurses hovering over her.

"She won't talk to us, Doctor!" One of the nurses said. "I'm worried that she's going into shock."

McCoy motioned them out of the way and pulled Gael into a tight embrace. She struggled against him, but soon stopped when she recognized him. She seemed to melt in his arms as she continued to weakly dry-heave with her stomach's cramps. He adjust his hold so that her back was to his chest to enable her to lean over his arm to vomit if she needed to.

"It's alright, Darlin'; I've got ya, okay? Nobody can hurt you anymore," he assured her gently as he finger-combed her hair back from her face.

"...I c-could see...feel...e'erythin'...o'er an'...an' o'er..." she choked out.

"See and feel what, Darlin'?"

She turned in his arms to face him. "They...they...t-touched...me...an'..."

McCoy's heart shattered. These "Institute" people beat her, tortured her, and that was not enough? The had to do this too. He had swallowed a hard lump of emotions before speaking. "Gael, did they touch you...in a...intimate way?"

All she could do was nod and bury her face in his chest. McCoy just held her tightly, and quietly dismissed the nurses to go about their other duties. He picked her up and took her back to his office

"Please, stay; donnae go," she whispered.

"I'm not going anywhere, Darlin'," he promised. He sat on ending of the couch with a pillow in his lap for Gael. She stretched out on the couch with her head in McCoy's lap. While she snuggled down and eventually slept, he was feverishly searching every data base he had access to in a effort to figure just who was really responsible for the atrocities they played out on the innocent girl in his lap.

The next morning, McCoy strode into the senior officers' meeting like a dark thundercloud. Everyone could feel the anger and frustration radiating off the doctor.

"Um, Bones, you okay?" Kirk asked cautiously.

"Dang it, Jim, no, I am not okay!" McCoy replied hotly. He told them what had happened the night before, and nearly all of them had choice words for Gael's captors. (Spock said nothing, so they did not know what he was exactly thinking, and Pavel used Russian very quietly, so Uhura was not sure what he said. She suspected it was less than...polite.) "Jim, we need to talk to Starfleet about this," McCoy insisted. "I searched all of my data bases and got nothin'. I wanna know who did this to her and pin their hide to the wall."

"Me too, Bones, me too." Kirk said. "I have compiled report based on Spock and Dr. Marcus' findings with the ship and quipment, as well as your reports, Bones, on Gael. Uhura, I want you to send this report back to Starfeet and request information on any group or organization that could possibly have anything to do with this." He handed her a data chip with the electronic file on it. "I'll get on in right away, sir," she nodded.

"Okay, let's get this day started, people," Kirked dismissed them after hearing reports from the Science, Engineering, and Communication areas. "Bones, when do you think you can let Gael out of Sickbay? She has got to be going stircrazy in there."

"Sometime tomorrow, and, actually, she seems to be doing just fine where she is," McCoy replied as they entered the lift for the bridge. "She was kept in six by six cell for the better part of the last five of her life. Sickbay is actually rather roomy in comparison."

"Wow," Kirk shook his head. "Is it bad that I really beginning to wish I could find these people and drop them off on a Klingon world and leave them to fate?"

"Jim, if we find some of these people still around and you give the order, I call dibs on pushin' the button to send 'em on their way."

"We catch them, the honor is all yours, Bones. You might have to fight Sulu and Chekov for it, though."

* * *

 _ **I know this chapter was rather dark. Sorry, but Gael has a dark past.**_ __


	11. Chapter 11

_**I owe a big thanks to HeartofFyrwinde, who beta-ed this chapter for me.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven**

The next morning, Sickbay was much more subdued as McCoy performed Gael's morning check up. She kept her head down, and the light teasing that had developed over the last few days was gone.

"You wanna talk about last night, Darlin'?" He asked after he put his PADD chart away. She looked up from her sock-covered feet and shook her head. Sliding off the bed, she stood and wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her face in his chest. Her silent message of _just hold me_ was loud and clear. It was a strong testament to her trust in him that she would be seeking comfort in him, a man, after all she went through. "Aw, shucks, Darlin'," he whispered, and held her tightly. Somehow, during the last week, this young woman had endeared herself to him so much. When she told him the subject of her nightmares, it had taken every ounce of his self-control to not punch a hole in the wall or something. The rage...the need to protect her...was so strong, it kind of scared him. He did not understand it, but he did know one thing; he would protect Gael from anything that tried to hurt her from then on out.

At lunch time, McCoy performed Gael's final check up. Suddenly, his comm chirped. "Doctor McCoy," he answered, flipping the device open.

"Hey Bones, you think Gael would up for company today at lunch?" Kirk asked on the other end. "I mean, with last night's...um...incident...we, you know, weren't sure if she...uh...would or wouldn't be opposed to eating with us fellas."

Gael could not help but give a smile when she heard him. They were all so good and understanding. McCoy looked at her and she nodded. He grinned wryly.

"Well, why don't you boys come down and ask her yourself?" he said. "I'm just finishing up her last check."

"You mean you are releasing her?"

"Yes, Jim, I'm releasing her," he rolled his eyes at the hopeful tone in Kirk's voice. "She seems to be taking to the vaccines well."

"Yes! Did you hear that, guys?" Kirk whooped. "Tell Gael that Chekov, Sulu, and I will there in minute."

Gael leaned forward and spoke into the device. "I'm waitin' on ye, lads."

"Yes, ma'am! Kirk out."

McCoy and Gael shared a look before bursting into chuckles, the darkness of the night before momentarily forgotten.

* * *

Kirk, Sulu, and Chekov made it down to Sickbay in record time.

"Geez, maybe I oughta tell you kids she's down here waiting for you when I need to do a physical exam." McCoy smirked at their expectant faces. "She's grabbing her things from the ward."

Just then, she walked into the main exam area wearing a fawn-colored tunic and the khakis and carrying what looked like small grey suitcase in her hand.

Pavel took a hesitant step forward. "How are you doing, Gael?"

She took a deep breath, knowing what he was referring to. "Been better, lad." Pavel opened his arms, and Gael, dropping her case, immediately walked into them, holding tightly to his uniform.

"Ve are here for you," he whispered to her.

"I know; thanks" she mumbled into his shoulder, before releasing him and hugging Sulu and Kirk, who had picked up her case.

"Come on, let's get outta here before Bones finds a reason to make you stay," Kirk said, throwing his free arm around Gael as they left.

In the mess hall, they helped Gael go through the line, pointing out various alien dishes she was unfamiliar with. Finding a quiet corner near the back, they grabbed a table and sat down. Soon, they were approached by Carol Marcus.

"May I join you all?" She asked, smiling brightly.

Kirk immediately stood and gave her his seat by Gael. "Dr. Marcus! Um, yeah, of course...the more the merrier," he answered, pulling up a new chair form a near-by table.

Carol offered her hand to Gael. "Dr. Carol Marcus, science officer,"

"Me name's Gael," the Irish girl replied with a shy smile.

"Have you settled into your new quarters yet?

"Nay, have nae seen them yea," Gael said. "Doctor McCoy jus' released me afore lunch."

"Well, if you need any help, just let me know. I can tell you first hand that these men know nothing about making quarters homey."

"Hey, I've seen all of us guys quarters," Kirk defended. "I think they're fine."

Carol rolled her eyes. "My point exactly." Gael grinned.

"Aw, come on, Carol, my quarters aren't that bad."

"Your office looks more lived in," she answered with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I do things in my office. I sleep in my room."

"It shows," she shook her head. "So, if you want help with anything, Gael, Nyota and I are at your disposal. That includes time away from all these boys."

"Thank ye," Gael smiled. "I jus' might be takin' ye up on the offer. They are insufferable sometimes, this lot." She teasingly added. "Especially one named Jim." She winked at Kirk.

"Hey!"

"Believe me, darling, I know," Carol answered with an exaggerated eye roll and mischievous grin of her own.

"Ve are not zat bad, surely," Pavel cheekily said. "Ze keptin, of couse, but Karu and I, surely not."

"Yeah, Gael, we can't be that bad." Sulu added.

"Wait, who's th' captain?" Gael asked.

"That would be the one named Jim," Kirk answered with a smirk.

"Ye...ye are...th' ship's captain?" Gael grew huge and round.

"Yeah, who did you think he was?" Sulu said.

Kirk's grin widened. "The insufferable Captain James Tiberius Kirk, at your service."

"Sir...I...I..." Gael blushed as dark red as Uhura's uniform.

"Was making a joke and teasing me. Good work, Miss Gael," he winked.

"I'm sorry, sir, I-"

"Apology accepted, though unnecessary," Kirk dismissed her embarrassed words. "You were teasing. I like teasing, so you'd better keep up the good work, Miss Gael. Captain's orders."

Gael smiled and had to stifle a giggle. "Aye, sir."

"Very good," Kirk smiled widely. "Now, I suggest we finish up so we can show our guest to her quarters."

When they were finished eating, Carol excused herself with the promise of seeing them all at dinner. Pavel grabbed Gael's case and Kirk led the way to the crew quarters.

He led them down several hallways before stopping at a door. "Okay, this one is your's, Gael," he said, pushing the button to open the door. "There is a keypad lock, so you can program a code to get in for security's sake."

The room was small, but still nearly twice as big as the cell she remembered being in before. There was a bed in one corner, covered in a grey Starfleet issued blanket. Nearby was a small, silver, metal desk, and across the room stood a wardrobe for her clothes. Above the desk was a small round window showing the passing stars.

"Well, watcha think?" Kirk asked.

Gael took it all in by turning a slow circle. "I luv it!" She smiled.

"Excellent, because Bones is just across the hall," Kirk grinned at her enthusiasm. "He wanted to be close in case you get sick or something-said something about how you might be ill worse because of being for 2073-"

"2073?" Gael asked, as Pavel set her case on the bed. "Wha' think I'm from 2073?"

"That's when the ship you were on was from," Sulu answered.

"Sixty years," she breathed, dropping down onto the bed. "They had me frozen for sixty year afore they sent me out tae space..."

"Vot are you talking about?"

"I ne'er saw th' year 2073," she explained. "Th' las' year I saw afore they froze me was 2016." The three men looked at her with stunned faces. "I twas born in...in...I mus' have been born 'n 1995 or so."

"So that's why you said no one had this kind of space travel," Sulu mused.

"Aye," she nodded. "In 2016, the farthest man had yet gone was tae th' moon, an' for tha' they used a rocket-ship."

"Wow...okay...Sulu, Chekov, help her unpack, then show her to the bridge. I need to go have a talk with Bones."

* * *

 _ **Sorry if this one seemed a little choppy, but a lot is starting to happen, so bear with us here on the Enterprise. ;) Hope you all enjoyed.**_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"Bones, what does those files say about when Gael was captured?" Kirk asked as he barged into McCoy's office.

McCoy looked up, startled at Kirk's sudden appearance. "Um, she was fourteen-"

"No, Bones, when. What year was it?"

"There isn't any years or dates anywhere on the files. Just designations like 'Year 2, Day 53'," McCoy answered. "What's wrong, Jim?"

Kirk was pacing, cursing under his breath. "Remember her saying that we couldn't be in space because no one had this kind of space travel?" he asked, stopping to face the physician.

"Yeah. Thought it was odd, but I figured she was just confused."

"Well, she said that because nobody did back in her day," Kirk said. "She just told us she was from 2016."

"2016?" McCoy nearly shouted.

"Yeah, she said that's what year it was when they froze her."

"So they froze her for sixty years before taking her to space." McCoy ran a hand down his face. "They torture her for five years, then wait sixty years to take her to space to resume their 'experiments'. Why?"

Kirk, who had resumed pacing, paused. "The Eugenics Wars...Bones, what if the augmentation experiments went on longer than we thought? What if Khan and his bunch weren't an isolated thing? What if there were other experiments back then?"

* * *

Gael stood by Pavel's chair on the bridge. After they put her clothes away in the wardrobe, Sulu and Pavel led her up to bridge where she met Commander Spock for the first time since he had come to Sickbay. He simply gave her a deep nod from where he sat in the captain's chair. Uhura, however, got up from her station long enough to give Gael a hug.

Since she didn't know why she was on the bridge, Gael stayed by Pavel's console as he explained how it worked.

Ten minutes later, Kirk and McCoy came in.

"Keptin on ze bridge," Pavel announced, seeing them out of the corner of his eye.

"Gael, may I speak with you a minute?" Kirk asked as he stood in front of the captain's chair that Spock had just vacated. Nodding, she approached him. "We sent a report regarding your situation to Starfleet, and Admiral Archer will be contacting is a few minutes with his initial findings. I'd like for you to be here for it. If anything sounds familiar to you, we'll know we're on the right track."

"Right track for what?" she asked.

"To find the ones responsible for...kidnapping you," McCoy answered. "We want to find them if they are still around."

Gael felt cold dread well up inside and turn her stomach into acid. "Why?"

Everyone sensed her tensing up and going on the defensive.

Pavel was standing and at her side in a moment.

"Ve vant zem to be brought to justice for vot zey did to you and ze ozers zees Eenstitute took," he said, slowly taking her hand and squeezing it reassuringly.

"Ye donnae want tae give me back?" she breathed tentatively.

McCoy sighed and felt his heart breaking for her once more. Gently laying a hand on her shoulder, he looked Gael in the eye. "You'll go back to anyone like them over my dead body, you hear me?"

Kirk nearly smirked at the doctor's words. McCoy's affection for the Irish girl was becoming more obvious every day. For a moment, Kirk wondered how much longer Bones would lie to himself before admitting that he saw Gael as daughter. Gael turned her wide hazel eyes to him. Kirk gave his firm, one-word answer with a soft grin. "Never."

Gael felt a warmth deep in her chest disperse the cold, tight dread inside her. She wanted to do nothing more than throw her arms around men before her and let herself be engulfed the safety and protection they so willingly offered her, but she did not want to embarrass any of them in front of the rest of the bridge crew. Blinking back the tears pricking her eyes, she just nodded mutely. Pavel squeezed her hand once more and whispered, "Мы здесь для вас, дорогой друг," before returning to his navigator's console. She was not sure what he said, but she got the idea from the tone of his voice. She smile gratefully at the Russian, and moved closer to McCoy who stood by Kirk's chair. She looked to Sulu, who sent her a warm smile that seem to say, "Yeah, what he said." As she came to stand by McCoy, his arm slipped around her shoulders protectively. Kirk took his place in his chair, and Spock, who had watch the events before him from the distance of the science station, came forward to take his normal, stoic stance by his captain.

"Starfleet is hailing us, Captain," Uhura announced.

"Good, on screen, please, Lieutenant."

A middle-aged man in the charcoal grey uniform of an officer sitting in an office filled the screen. His brown hair was lightly streaked with grey, and crows-feet creased the outer corners of his brown eyes. "Greetings, Captain Kirk," he said with a slight smile.

"Afternoon, Admiral," Kirk saluted the man. "I hope you have good news for us. I'd like to present our guest to you." He turned his chair and motioned toward Gael. "This is Miss Gael of Ireland. She endured five years at the hands of this 'Institute'."

"I am very sorry for all that happened to you, Miss," Admiral Archer said with compassion. "I read Mr. McCoy's report. I can't imagine going through all of...that."

"Thank ye, sir," she murmured with a nod, nervously shifting even closer to McCoy. Gael still felt trepidation of men who looked like military officers.

"As for good news, I wish I had more to give than what I do," Archer continued. "We are fairly sure this 'Institute' mentioned in the recovered files is what would become the Daystrom Institute. Several founding members were later found to be tangled up in eugentics and the Augments."

"Augments? You mean like Khan?" McCoy asked.

"Yes, Doctor."

McCoy's arm instinctively tighten around Gael.

"Khan? As in the Eastern tyrant?" she asked.

"You know Khan?" Kirk gasped, swiveling his chair toward her.

"O' him, sure," Gael nodded. "He twas in my history book. He was exiled jus' afore I was born, I think. Some called him a freedom fighter and good leader."

"I sense a 'but' in there," Archer prompted.

Gael nervously twisted her hands. "Well, some the accounts I read about what he did tae people who stood up tae 'im or entered his lands..." she swallowed thickly. "I donnae remember much now, but I think he was...less than...understanding...towards them..."she trailed off uncertainly, suddenly aware that everyone was watching her.

Spock was first to speak. "You would be correct, Miss Gael. Our personal experience with the Augment know as Khan was...less than pleasant. You remember well for an individual who was removed from school as early as you were."

"I always liked history," she murmured. "and I learn quickly...I think...Tha' what Ma always told me."

"Well, as I said, we believe that it might refer to the Daystrom Institute," Admiral Archer said. "In the early years there was a big issue among the board members regarding whether or not it was ethical for the biology department to experiment on live human subjects."

"That sounds like our folks," McCoy growled.

"But the Daystrom Institute was founded after Gael was frozen," Kirk commented.

"Our guess is that they might have been trying to convince the rest of board to allow the human experimentation so that they could continue their work in the open," Archer answered.

"Ye mean, they might have...done...m-more...? Gael gasped. Shuddering, she buried her face in McCoy's shirt for a moment before remembering her promise to herself to not cause them any embarrassment in front of others. As she began to pull away, McCoy tightened his arms around her, lightly pressing her head to his chest.

"Jim, I don't think having Gael here while you discuss all this is a good idea," he said.

"Nay, I'm fine." Gael firmly pushed away and wiped at her teary eyes fiercely.

"Darlin', you don't have to stay if it's painful," McCoy soothed. "We aren't gonna judge you."

"I'll be okay. I need tae know," she answered, but slipped her hand into his.

"Alright," McCoy sighed, squeezing her hand firmly.

"Can you tell us anything else, Admiral?" Spock asked.

"I'm afraid not, Commander," Archer admitted. "I'm sending you a databurst with the names of the board who advocated eugenics and experimentation."

"Thank you, sir."

"I'm sorry that it's not more, but I will update you as I can. Archer out."

"Captain, we are receiving a data package from the Admiral."

"Thank you, Uhura. Send it to my PADD," Kirk said. He rose and went over to Gael. "You gonna be okay, kiddo?"

She nodded and gave him a weak smile.

"I'm taking you back to your room, Darlin'," McCoy said. "You need some time to decompress after all that," Gael simply nodded again, not trusting herself to speak.

"Aww, come here, sweetheart." Kirk opened his arms, and Gael immediately walked into them, burying her face in his gold command shirt. "I know whole 'they might not have been done with you' is a frightening thought, but we aren't gonna let anything like that happen to you ever again." He held her close a few long moments, his cheek resting on her head, before releasing her.

"Thank ye, Cap'n."

"For you, sweetheart, it's just Jim," he winked at her, causing her let out a tiny, little giggle. "Now go on, before Bones has an all-out, Sourthern, hissy-fit."

McCoy rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I do _not_ have hissy-fits."

"Yes, you do. Every time I go to Sickbay."

McCoy muttered something about Jim and showing real hissy-fits as he took Gael's hand and lead her to the turbo lift. She just let him. Her mind could not shake the thought of the possibility of enduring any more... _anything_...at the hands of the Institute. Without realizing it, she leaned back against the lift wall, tipped her head back against it, and let out a heavily sigh. Tears began to sting her eyes again. She several deep breaths in an attempt to get her frazzled nerves and emotions under control.

"Gael?" McCoy's voice sounded from her right. "You alright?" She felt him stop the lift between levels and turn towards her. "Talk to me, Darlin'. What's wrong?"

"It's just alot tae take in..." she lied in whisper, closing her eyes.

"Gael."

"Th' thought o' someone...advocatin'... usin' people, innocen' people, f-for guinea pigs...all in th' name o' science... an'...an' progress..."

"Darlin', listen-"

"I am Subject 23," she breathed. " _Twenty-three_. There was a' least...twenty-three others, includin' mae brother Aiden...who went through wha' I did...and they're gone..."

"Gael."

"Jus' like tha'...probably nae proper burial...families ne'er...knowing w-wha' happened tae their loved ones..." Tears silently slipped down her face as scenes from her darkest days flashed under her eyelids.

"Gael!" A sob escaped her pale lips. As McCoy watched she had been growing paler and paler over the last few minutes.

"An-an'...an' tae think they were nae...were nae..."

"GAEL!" McCoy gripped her upper arms to make her face him. Gael, lost in her memories , flinched violently. "Gael Darlin', look at me!" he choked out. Dang it. It seriously hurt him to see her like this. Slowly, her pain-filled eyes opened. "Listen to me," he said. "No one is goin' to touch you ever again. Ya hear me? Never ever again." He crushed her to his chest, fighting back his own tears that were stinging his eyes. "I won't let 'em. They'll have to kill me first."

Gael threw her arms around his chest, taking folds of his shirt's back into a death grip. He felt his shirt dampen as she sobbed and mumbled something in a language he did not understand, presumably Gaelic. 'It's alright, Darlin', let it all out," he soothed, gently rubbing circles on her back.

Her grip on him tightened, and she suddenly let out a muffled scream. Her hands finally let go of his uniform, and gripped either side of her head instead. "Is it another episode?" McCoy quickly asked. She nodded against his sternum. He immediately slapped the button to get to the lift moving and barked out an order for it to take them to the Sickbay level.

When the doors opened, he scooped her up into a bridal carry, and charged down hallway to Sickbay. There, he carefully laid her down a bed where she immediately curled into the fetal position, still clutching her head. He dashed over to the med cabinets, searching for an appropriate pain-killer, calling out for a nurse to prepare a sedative. Once his hypo was ready, he rushed back to Gael's side. "Okay, I've got a pain-killer for ya, then I'm gonna give ya a sedative so you can sleep through this thing." She nodded with another cry of pain and pushed her hair off her neck so he could administer the hypo. A few moments later, the nurse had brought him the sedative, and Gael had already sagged in relief as the pain-killer took effect. He gave her the sedative and sighed in his own relief when her eyes fluttered closed. Giving the empty hyposprays back to the nurse, he plopped down in a chair by her beside and ran a hand down his face. Gosh, this hurt. She was just a kid, for cryin' out loud. Nobody should have to deal with stuff like this, least of all, someone like Gael. He raised his eyes to her sleeping form. She was still curled on her side, facing him. She looked so _young_...so _innocent_...now that the lines of pain were gone from her face.

Slowly, he pulled his communicator out of his pocket. "McCoy to Bridge."

Jim's cheerful voice sounded out of place as it came through. "What's up, Bones? You took Gael back to her quarters, right?"

"We never made that far."

Jim's voice instantly colored with concern. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"She had another episode in the turbo lift, Jim. I had to bring her back to Sickbay for a pain-killer and sedative." He could hear murmurs of horror in the background before Jim answered.

"Is she okay?"

"She completely out, Jim. She can't feel anything."

Kirk cursed quietly. "Dang it, it's all my fault. If I hadn't insisted on her being there-"

"Now, wait a minute-"

"I thought it might do her good...you know, help her to know we're going after these-"

"Jim!" McCoy nearly yelled.

"Sorry, Bones."

"Jim, she wanted to be there. We offered her an out and she chose to stay. That was her choice." He heard a huff on the other end. "Look, I just wanted let you guys know since we probably won't be at dinner."

"Okay, Bones. Keep us in the loop."

"Will do, Jim." He looked over at the sleeping girl. Gently, taking her hand in his, McCoy brushed a kiss to her forehead, and laid his head on the edge of the mattress. Wearily, he closed his eyes, and was asleep in moments.

* * *

 _ **Мы здесь для вас, дорогой друг = we are here for you, dear friend.**_

 _ **Author's note: Sorry it's been awhile since my last update. Had to take care of some family stuff and I'm working through a case of writer's block. If the chapter is horrible or weird or doesn't made sense, I'm blaming it on writer's block.**_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

McCoy woke from the nap he had not meant to take, still holding Gael's hand. He raised his head and let his eyes take in his little Irish girl's face- _wait_ -since when was Gael his? He shook his head to dispel the strange thought and tried to ignore the warmth and serenity that budded in his chest when he saw Gael's peacefully slumbering face.

"Nurse-" He tried to remember which nurses were on duty. "Nurse Snyder," he called.

"Nope," came a distinctly Texan voice. "Snyder, Rossi, and Johnson got off thirty minutes ago.

"Lee?" She was from Texas and good with loud, obnoxious, stubborn patients. The tall brunette walked over and handed McCoy his PADD.

"Yep, it's lil' ol' me, Levenworth, and Kelley, right now."

"Really? How long was I out?"

"Two hours."

"Two hours! Dang it, Lee, why didn't anyone wake me up?" McCoy sputtered.

"Well, I can't speak for the last shift, but I know why I didn't."

"Oh?"

"Ya clearly don't get enough sleep, Doc, and ya looked too darn comfortable. I didn't have the heart ta wake ya up."

"Oh, 'looked too comfortable', my foot," Levenworth commented as she and Kelley came in from the supply closet. "We didn't wake you up because it was too cute seeing you passed out next to the Irish girl."

"Great. Just peachy," McCoy groused as he stood and straightened his uniform.

"Oh, stop grumbling, Doctor," Kelley said "Absolutely nothing has happened since you fell asleep. Not one patient has come in."

"But doesn't change the regulation about sleeping on duty!"

"What we don't report to the captain won't hurt him," Levenworth rolled her eyes. "besides, I highly doubt he'd punish you for it anyway."

"That doesn't change anything!" McCoy answered. "From now on, if I accidentally fall asleep on duty, I want somebody to wake me up."

"Yes, Doctor," the three nurses chorused.

Just then, Gael stirred with a small moan.

McCoy was at her side immediately. "How ya feelin'?" he asked as he whipped out a tricorder and scanned her. The nurses exchanged knowing smiles.

"Head...feels...fuzzy..."

"Sorry, Darlin'; side-effect of the sedative."

"Okay...dinner...promised Pavel an' Hikaru..."

"Nope, you're having dinner right here with me."

She sighed, not having the will power to argue. "Okay..."

After a dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, Gael's head was feel much clearer, so McCoy discharged her and took her back to her room. In the bathroom, she changed into her pale blue pajamas (they had little black Starfleet symbols all over them.) from Uhura and let McCoy...settle her in bed. (He still refused to think of it as tucking her in. She was nineteen, not five, for heaven's sake.) He tugged the grey blanket up to her chin as she slipped beneath the sheets into a comfortable position on her side.

"G'night," he whispered.

"Night, Doctor."

"Darlin', I think we're past formalities at this point; just call me Leonard."

"Leonard...Leonard..."she mutter drowsily, testing it out how to pronounce his name.

"You got it, Darlin'," he chuckled. "Sweet dreams," he added, but she had already drifted off.

The next morning, Gael rose early (the clock...er...chronometer on her bedside table said it a little after six.) and dressed for the day in jeans, a thick, over-sized hunter green sweater, and black Starfleet boots. She found it to be kind of cold here in space. Grabbing the communicator that Captain Kirk had left on her desk, she headed out in search of breakfast.

Gael was a little scared of the thought of walking around the ship alone, (What if she accidentally went somewhere that she was not supposed to?) but she did not want to bother Doctor Mc...Leonard. He had told her to call him Leonard. Anyway, she was sure that he was already busy in Sickbay, getting ready for the day.

After a few minutes, she realized that was lost. She must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, now she had no idea where she was. She was just pulling out her communicator to see if she could figure out how it worked to call Pavel, Hikaru, or Nyota, when a voice rang out ahead of her.

"Ye alright there, lass?" A thick Scottish brogue asked, and she looked up to find a man with short brown hair and kind blue eyes smiling at her. He wore a uniform like the others, and it was red like Nyota's.

"I-I was tryin' t-tae find the mess hall...I thin' I'm lost..."

"Well, tha's nae problem, lass; I'm a-headin' for a bite o' breakfast meself," he said. "I can take ye there, if ye don' mind an ol' Scotsman's company."

A small, tentative smile grace her lips. "I'd like tha', sir," she answered.

"Ah, a polite one, ye are," he said, offering his arm with a wink. "If I may escort ye, me lady."

Gael giggled and took his arm as he lead her down the hallway. "Thank ye, sir. I'm Gael."

"Ye be tha' wee Irish lass they found, then? "

She nodded.

"Young Chekov spoke highly o' ye when he came down tae Engineerin' yesterday. Montgomery Scott, at yer service. Friends call me Scotty, though."

"What do ye do here, Mister Scott?"

"I'm CEO."

"CEO?"

"Chief Engineerin' Officer."

Gael's eyes widened. She was walking arm-in-arm to breakfast with the head of Engineering? "Ye mean, yer in charge o' th' engine room?" she gasped.

"Well, 'tis a bit more than jus' a 'engine room'," he chuckled. "but, aye, I make sure we keep our silver lady happy and goin'."

He was in charge of keep them going in space!

"Wow...Ye mus' be a very busy man..."

"Aye, but no' tae busy tae share breakfast with bonnie wee lass, if she be willin'," he smiled shyly.

"Tha' would be lovely, Mister Scott," she grinned back as they reach the mess hall.

"Now, now, none o' tha'. It's Scotty, lass."

"Okay...Mister Scotty, then."

Scotty just chuckled and shook his head. They went through the line, finding that they both liked their oatmeal with an apple cut up in it and a liberal amount of cinnamon sprinkled on top, and sat a table in a quiet corner. Scotty kept Gael giggling by recounting several Engineering mishaps involving himself and his colleague, Keenser.

She rested her chin in hand in with a happy sigh. "Aiden woulda loved tae meet ye and follow ye around all day."

"Who, lass?"

Her smile faded thoughtfully. "Aiden," she answered softly. "My eldest brother. He so wanted tae be an engineer. He ne'er even got tae go tae college."

"I'm sorry, lass." Scotty gently covered her hand that was on the table with his own.

"Thanks," she whispered. "It's jus'...we were close, me brothers and I."

"Tha's good, Gael; I had five brothers and sisters, but we ne'er got along." Scotty checked the mess hall chronometer. "Well, lass, I got tae get back tae Engineering; can I drop ye off somewhere?"

"Sickbay?" she asked shyly.

"Aye, I can do tha'," he grinned. They returned their trays and headed to Sickbay.

"Thank ye, Mister Scotty," Gael said when they reached the Sickbay doors. "Breakfast was lovely."

"Aye, 'tis no' every morn I get such a bonnie messmate," Scotty winked. "If ye come by Engineerin' sometime, I'd be honored tae give ye a tour."

"I'd like tha'. I will definitely come down sometime," she answered. "Have a great day, Mister Scotty."

"Ye too, lass," he sent her a playful salute and headed down to Engineering.

Stepping through the door, Gael found Sickbay nearly empty. Only one patient occupied a biobed. The red-shirted ensign was having his hand wrapped by a nurse.

"Um...Excuse me; where's Doctor McCoy?" she asked tentatively.

Without raising her eyes, the nurse jerked her head towards a door in the back of the room. "In his office," she said with a heavy German accent.

"Thank ye," Gael nodded and headed towards the door. Gathering her courage and praying that she was not interrupting anything, she knocked on the door.

A gruff, muffled "Come in!" sounded from the other side. Pressing a button on the doorframe, the door slid open, and she hovered uncertainly a step into the room. McCoy was sitting at the desk, which had piles of papers and PADDs all over it. He was bent over a stack of papers, a look of frustration plastered on his face and a few strands of his normally perfectly neat hair sticking up.

He did a double-take when he finally looked up and saw her there. "Gael, Darlin'? Ya okay? What on earth are ya doin' up this early?"

"I'm fine," she shrugged. "I was wonderin' if there was anythin' I could help ye with."

He cast a defeated look around his messy office. "I don't suppose ya would be willin' to help me make heads 'r tails of all this?" She nodded enthusiastically. A wry grin broke out on his face. "Why don't ya start with the science journals on the couch?" She looked across from the desk and found his couch covered in stacks of science and medical journals. "I was scanning them into one of my PADDs so I can leave the hard copies in my room, but I've lost track of which ones I have and haven't done. I need you figure out ones are on there and which ones aren't, and sort them for me. Can ya do that?" he asked.

Gael sent him a mock salute. " Aye, sir!" she answered cheerfully.

McCoy shook his head, and took a long sip from his large coffee mug. "Darlin', when did ya get up?"

"Around six," she answered, not looking up from the stack of magzines in her hands.

"Six!"

"Aye, I had breakfast an' everythin'."

He ran a hand down his face. "Gael, ya are way too chipper for someone who went through what ya did yesterday and got up that early. How much coffee did you have at breakfast?"

She glanced up at him to see his sleepy eyes gazing in bemusement at her. "Oh, I dinnae have any; I've ne'er liked coffee at all. I've jus' always been a mornin' person...I think..."

"Lucky you."

"It also helps if I donnae think about yesterday," she added quietly.

"Oh, shucks, and here I brought it up," McCoy groaned. "I'm sorry, Gael."

"'Tis okay. It was a fair question." She sounded fine, but McCoy noticed her eyes glaze over in memory. Rising from his desk, he crossed the room and pulled her into a hug.

"If you ever need to talk about it, I'm here, okay?"

She nodded into his shoulder. He slowly released her and returned to trying to sort through the papers on his desk. They worked all morning in a easy, companionable silence until McCoy's coffee kicked in. Once he was fully awake, a light banter developed between them, broken only by McCoy's hourly rounds in the main Sickbay. After Gael finished sorting the medical journals, she helped him with organizing his paper files.

"How did all this get like this anyway?" Gael asked.

"New nurses misfiling everything, " he sighed. "I have to keep both the paper files and the electronic files up to date. We had three people come in here last night, and I can't find their files."

"Dinnae the nurses get trained on filin'?"

"They're supposed to, yeah, but there's a couple here that I think must have called in 'sick' that week, or somethin'."

Gael giggled. "I'm guessin' they were havin' ocular problems."

"Ocular problems?" McCoy asked. "What on earth makes ya say that?"

"'Tis wha' me Uncle Bryan always said when he dinnae want tae go to work," she answered laughing. "He always said tha' he had an ocular problem; he couldnae see himself goin' in tae work tha' day."

McCoy just shook his head and laughed. "I might actually have to use that one on Jim sometime," he grinned.

From outside, the three nurses on duty gazed at the office door in wonder as the sound of laughter floated from the other side.

"Well, wonder of wonders," Nurse Rossi said, shaking her head in amazment. "The grizzly bear actually sounds happy this morning."

"Ja," Nurse Snyder said. "it is a day to mark on the calendar."

Nurse Johnson, who was testing tricorders, added "Yeah, in bright red ink and sparkles."

Snyder nodded, her blond ponytail bobbing. "She is goot for him," she said with a rare smile.

Rossi grinned. "And, believe it or not, he is good for her. He may be rough, but he is very caring."

"I just wonder how it's gonna take," Johnson said.

"How long what's going to take?"

"Doctor McCoy realizing they are perfect for each other and seeking adoption."

"You really think he would?" Snyder asked.

"If he is half as smart about personal matters as he is about medical matters, then yes," Johnson nodded. "In fact I bet it will happen by Thanksgiving."

"You're on," Rossi answered, as another gale of laughter came from the office.

Gael and McCoy, competely aware that they were the topic of the nurses' conversation, were laughing as they attempted a victory dance in the middle of his office in celebration of finally piecing together the three missing patient files. However, papers, files, and PADDs were still stacked all over the place causing the pair to nearly trip and fall over.

"Ooooookay, I think it's time for a break," McCoy chuckled.

"Lunch?" Gael asked brightly.

"Sounds good, Darlin'." He grabbed her hand and led her out towards the Sickbay door.

"I'm goin' ta lunch; Rossi is in charge till I get back," he called over his shoulder, chuckling when the nurses caught sight of his grinning face as he walked hand-in-hand with Gael.

"Is it really tha' rare for ye tae smile, Doctor Leonard?" she asked.

"I told ya, it's just Leonard, Darlin'," he answered, his smile fading. "Honestly, I haven't had much to smile about in the last few years."

She squeezed his hand gently. "We'll jus' have tae work tha' then, won't we?"

He looked down at her softly smile face, and felt his heart swell in graditude and pride. She had literally been through a living Hell, and yet there she was, encouraging him. _Gosh, your parents would be so darn proud of you, Gael._

"I reckon we will; I reckon we will."

 _You've already made a start on making my life a more bearable place to be._

* * *

 ** _So, yes, Bones has a fun side! Sorry if this seems a little random, but after all the angst, they all need some happy fluffiness._**

 ** _Please, leave a review; they are the cure for writer's block. (No, there isn't a hypospray cure for writer's block yet. I asked Bones and he chased me out of his Sickbay.)_**

 ** _Ooo, one last thing: Thank you so much to the three people who left reviews and to the one who PM-ed me about my one-shot Just Like Jesse James. I've actually had a request to write more about that OC, so if you have ideas or requests let me know!_**


	14. Chapter 14

_**I just want express my awe and gratitude for my 36 reveiws, 29 faves, and 69 follows! I'm blown away, guys! Thank you, thank you, thank you!**_

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen**

McCoy and Gael entered the mess hall and were immediately waved over by Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu to join them for lunch. They grabbed their meals and sat down, McCoy grateful for the others' trying to include Gael in their lives. However, she soon lost track of the males' discussion of the last planet they had visited, and struck up a conversation with Uhura about life on board a starship.

"We have a lot of duties, but we still have time for fun," Uhura said. "In fact, Carol and I were wanting to have you over tonight."

"Me? Really?"

"Yeah, girls' dinner and a movie night in my room," Uhura grinned. "Usually it's just me, Carol, and my friend Gaila, but we wanted you to join us. We all swapped for later shifts tomorrow, so it'll almost be like a sleep-over, and, of course, no males are allowed at anytime." She mocked glared in the direction of Sulu, Chekov, and McCoy.

"Trust me, I don't even want to know what ship-domination planning takes place at your 'girls' nights'," Sulu adamantly replied.

Chekov shook his head. "Me nee-zer."

"Don't worry, Uhura, I will personally hypo the witless guy who intrudes on the sanctity of your male-free evening," McCoy chuckled.

"Sleep-o'er...wha's a sleep-o'er?" Gael asked.

"You don't know what a sleep-over is?" Sulu asked. "I thought every kid had been to one by the time they were ten. Especially girls."

"A sleep-over is when you...well...sleep over, spend the night, at a friend's house. Boys play video games and tell ghost stories all night, and...I don't know what happens at girl sleep-overs," McCoy said.

"Usually painting nails, playing Truth or Dare, talking about all the cute boys at school, watching chick flicks...that sort of thing," Uhura said. "You never had or went to sleep-over?"

Gael shook her head. "I donnae remember. Maybe we dinnae have them in Ireland."

"Well, we have them occasionally here on the Enterprise, and you are definitely invited," Uhura answered with a smile.

Subconsciously, Gael glanced at McCoy. He had been careful about her activities so far; something about space illnesses and the vaccines he had given her. Would he approve of this sleep-over? Nyota, as she had insisted to be called, and Dr. Marcus were very nice, and Gael was sure this Gaila was nice too, if Nyota was friends with her. She could not remember having much contact with other females. Just her mother and, occasionally, Aunt Claire. And this sleep-over sounded fun; fun was definitely a distant memory for Gael.

McCoy was slightly surprised when he noticed her hesitant glance his way. It was clear she wanted to go to Uhura's, but it was almost like...Gael was seeking his permission. Why would she feel the need for permission? From him? _She hasn't made a decision for herself in five years,_ he reminded himself. "Sounds like...fun...girly...uh...stuff...Y'all will have a blast, I'm sure," he said, hoping that Gael would take the hint that it was okay for her to go.

In fact, he was secretly thrilled; Gael needed some strong feminine influences. She taken away from her mother at an important time in a girl's life. She needed at one person she could turn to for help with more...feminine things. He was a doctor, sure, but there were some things that she would really just need a woman's help with.

"Oh, we will," Uhura grinned. "We'll see you at six here in the mess hall, okay, Gael?"

"Aye, definitely!" she nodded enthusiastically. Inside, she was doing a little happy jig. She could sense Doc-Leonard's approval in his answer to Nyota.

McCoy grinned at Gael's excitement. Thank you, he mouthed to Uhura, who just smiled back.

After lunch, McCoy and Gael returned to Sickbay to finish organizing his office. They finished around four o' clock and had another victory dance the middle of the office since the floor was now clear enough that they would not trip and fall over anything. McCoy could hardly remember a time when he felt happier, more at peace as he did in that afternoon working side-by-side with Gael. They were not even doing something deep or meaningful; just sorting papers and files into order, but McCoy felt something he had been missing for a long time. A sense of family. They both felt free to be themselves without worrying what people would think.

Unfortunately, Nurse Johnson cut their celebration short by coming in and yelling about an Engineering ensign with severe burns.

"You are free to go, Gael," McCoy said hurriedly as he dashed out into Sickbay. Gael followed him to find three injured ensigns being helped onto bio-beds by the nurses. The first two had several red blisters each, and one had a broken arm, but the third ensign had severe burns to his left arm and leg.

"What happened?" McCoy demanded, instantly switching to full doctor/CMO mode.

"Coolant lines for one of the smaller thrusters malfunctioned," the ensign groaned. "It over-heated."

"And, I assume it exploded."

"A little bit. It would have been worse if we hadn't been trying to reroute coolant."

"And, course you were standing right there when it happened," McCoy huffed.

"I was trying...to...contain...the damage."

"With your body?" McCoy shook his head. He turned to Nurse Johnson who had just stood there hovering over the doctor's shoulder. "What are you waiting for? Set up the dermal regenerator! This man's skin isn't gonna heal itself anytime soon!"

She just stood there and gaped at his sudden outburst.

"Go!" he shouted, pointing to cabinet where the equipment was kept. "Don't fret," he told the man on the bed. "We'll do a few rounds of dermal regen, and you'll be fine. What's ya name, Ensign?"

"Avery, Thomas, J."

"Ok, I'm gonna get you a sedative; this is gonna hurt like you won't believe." He turned to head to the medicine closet only to run into Gael. "Darlin', you need to either get out of here or stay in the office; you can't be under foot in here!"

Calmly, she held up a hypospray. "I brought ye a sedative for Ensign Avery, Doctor."

"What?"

"I got his name, looked up his file for med allergies, then had Nurse Snyder explain how tae prepare th' hypo. Ten CCs o' isoflurane is correct, isn't it?" she said.

He snatched the hypospray from her and examined it. She had indeed prepared it correctly. He dashed over the PADD sitting on the counter by the med closet. He found the ensign's file still up and that he did not have an allergy to the sedative Gael brought him. He went back over to his patient, and he found Gael holding his good hand.

"Donnae worry, Ensign," she softly told him. "He's just double checkin' the hypo. Would nae want to accidently give ye too much or somethin'."

Avery chuckled weakly. "No, that's not something I care to experience."

"Well, Doctor McCoy is th' best. He'll be fixin' ye right up, good as new."

McCoy leaned over and administered the hypo. "That'll be takin' affect in a minute."

"Thanks, Doc," Avery nodded. "You know, some of you down here should take bedside manner lessons from Miss Gael here."

"We all can't be as sweet as pie, Avery," McCoy answered wryly. "Besides, Starfleet does not pay me enough to pander to all you Engineering folks. Ya'll come in more often than everyone else, I think. The only ones that come close are Security and the Captain."

"She still made me feel better about the prognosis..." he trailed off as the sedative took effect.

"Good," Gael smiled. "Cause ye have nothin' tae worry about."

Avery smiled back just before his eyes fluttered closed.

McCoy sighed and ran his hand down his face. "Gael Darlin', ya can't be in here doin' stuff like that."

"Like what?" she asked, confused. "I jus' told him he would be okay."

"I'm talkin' 'bout the sedative!" He paused to take a deep breath to calm himself. "Darlin', you're not a trained, licenced medical professional. I can't let you go around doin' hypos and stuff!"

"And she is a trained professional?" Gael whispered, nodding toward the nurse who was still trying to set up the dermal regenerator. "Could have fooled me, Doctor."

"Gael-"

"Nay! She was jus' standin' there like a bump on o log, an' tha' poor man was in pain, waitin' on her tae do her job. I couldnae-"

"Gael!" McCoy half shouted, and sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "Your desire to help is wonderful, but I can't let you do that. I'm CMO; the head of tiny hospital in space. If word of me letting an untrained teen dispense medication got back to Starfleet, I could lose my job and license to practice, Darlin'."

Gael's shoulders slumped. "Oh..." she said in a small voice, lowering her head in shame.

"Besides that, you could have very likely have gotten the wrong drug or the wrong amount. It could have hurt or even killed him. Then, we'd have a malpractice lawsuit on our hands."

"I...I w-was jus' tryin'...t-tae..."

McCoy huffed a sighed and pulled her in to his chest. "I know, Darlin', I know." He held her tight as she buried her face in his uniform. "You know what, though, I am kinda proud of ya, in a way."

She slowly raised her head. "What for?"

"Your quick thinkin'. Without any training, you were able to access the situation, figure out what we needed, and had it ready and waitin' when I wanted it." He grinned. "That's pretty good for an amateur."

Gael blushed. Just then, Nurse Johnson finally brought the dermal regenerator over.

"Look, I gotta see to my patient. Why don't you just go relax in your quarters till you have to go meet up with Uhura?"

"All right..." Gael released him and stepped back.

"I'll see ya tomorrow, Darlin'."

"G'night, Leonard," she whispered.

"Have fun," he softly grinned and brushed a kiss to her forehead before turning to his patient.

Gael slipped out of Sickbay and headed back to her room. Thoughtfully, her fingers brushed the spot where McCoy had kissed her, and she smiled shyly to herself.

* * *

 _ **Next up: Girl's Night with Nyota, Carol, and Gaila!**_

 ** _I'd love to hear what all y'all think so far; please drop off a review!_**

 ** _Oh, and please check the poll on my profile!_**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Two hours later, Gael found herself standing outside of Uhura's quarters. She did not know what to expect, so she carried her blue Starfleet pyjamas and a small bag of toiletries with her. She could faintly hear music coming from the room. Taking a deep breath, Gael knocked on tje door. It slid open with a hiss, revealing a young woman about Nyota's age who had green skin and curly red hair.

Gael gulped slightly. She was still getting used to there being aliens on board. The green-skin woman grinned widely at her.

"Yay!" she cheered. "You're here! I've been so excited to meet you, Gael!" she gushed. "You are Gael, right?"

"Um, aye..."

"I'm Gaila," She pulled Gael into an enthusiastic hug. "Come in, come in!"

Slightly overwhelmed by Gaila's exuberance, Gael let herself be pulled into the room.

"Hi Gael. Glad you could make it." Dr. Marcus smiled from her place on the bed.

"Hi, Dr. Marcus," the girl answered shyly.

"Isn't this fantastic!" Gaila giggle happily. "Another refugee of the overpowering manliness permeating this ship, another sister in our crusade of domination!"

Gael looked at Gaila in alarm. "Now wait jus' a minute; I want nae part o'-"

"GAILA!" Nyota's voice rang from behind the closed door of the bathroom. "Stop scaring her! We do actually want her to hang out with us in the future! Now, help me turn the bed into a couch for us."

"But Ny!" the Orion whined. "This is ship domination we're talking about!"

Gael glanced worriedly at Marcus. "It's okay; Gaila is just joking," the doctor explained. "Hypothetical plans for taking over the ship is a favorite pastime of hers. Sometimes, we 'make plans' on girls' nights. We'd never dream of actually carrying any of them out, of course."

"Ah," Gael nodded, her eyes clouding in memory. "...I think...my father used tae tease my mom about takin' over the world...with us kids as her minions."

Dr. Marcus chuckled and patted the space beside her, inviting the teen to join her. "How are doing, sweetheart?" she asked. "It's only been a few days since you were released from Sickbay."

"I'm okay, Dr. Marcus, thank ye," Gael answered. "I got tae help Leona-I mean-Dr. McCoy today in Sickbay."

"It's just, Carol," she said. "and that's good to hear. Keeping busy it's important in cases like ours."

"Cases like ours?"

"She's talking about the Khan incident," Gaila said.

"Khan? As in th' Khan who was sent away in th' Botany Bay?"

Nyota came out of the bathroom. "He was found and taken out of stasis, which turned to be a big mistake."

"Wha' happened?"

"He destroyed and crashed my father's ship, the Vengeance," Carol said softly. "He murdered my father with his bare hands."

Gael's hand flew up cover her mouth as she looked to Carol in horror.

"It's okay, Gael," Carol sighed. "I worked closely with my father in Starfleet, but I wasn't terribly close to him..."

"But it still hurts?" Gael guessed. Carol nodded.

"Lovely bonding moment, ladies," Gaila suddenly said. "but on to the business at hand: girls' night! Break out the chick flicks and ice cream, Ny!" The Orion pointed dramatically at Nyota, then at Carol and Gael. "And no more sad stuff tonight, you two! Let the fun begin!"

Gael glance from the bubbly Gaila to Nyota to Carol. Leaning over she whispered to Carol. "Are ye sure she hasnae...um...drunk something, uh, strong?"

"Actually, with Gaila, that's very possible," Carol chuckled.

Gael slipped into the bathroom, changed into her pajamas, then went over and settled between Carol and Nyota on the "couch".

Four hours, two movies, and lots of ice cream and giggling later, Gael was sound asleep, but the sanctity of her dreams were invaded by the memory of the worst day of her life.

"We jus' want yer girl, there."

"Ye cannae have mae daughter."

"Is tha' so?"

"Run, Gael!"

Fire, screams, crying...

Gael bolted upright from her place between Nyota and Carol. She quickly glanced around the dark room. No one seemed to stir. Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, Gael pulled her knees up to her chin, and rest her forehead on them, taking several deep breaths to calm herself. The familiar sting of tears pricked her eyes as she fought the grief welling up inside.

"Gael, honey, you okay?" A soft, sleepy voice whispered from her right. A gentle hand touched her shoulder. Gael jumped slightly and looked over to find Carol sitting up having at her in concern. So much for not waking anyone.

Gael hesitated, then shook her head.

"Nightmare?" Carol asked, tucking a lock of Gael's hair behind the girl's ear.

Gael nodded and sniffed. Every other time she had experienced a nightmare, Leonard head been there to comfort her. All she wanted at that moment was to be engulfed in his strong but gentle arms and listen to him whisper comforting things in his Southern accent.

As if sensing her thoughts, Carol wordlessly slipped her arm around the girl's shoulders, gently pulling her close. Gael cried quietly into Carol's shoulder as the woman rubbed comforting circles on her arm with her thumb.

"It's okay to grieve, Gael," Carol whispered. "It's okay; let it out."

Drowsily, Nyota and Gaila stirred. They saw Gael crying on the science officer's shoulder and looked at Carol in concern.

Nightmare, Carol mouthed. Nyota and Gaila nodded solemnly. They each offered the teen words of comfort before settling back down to sleep.

"Come on, honey, you need some sleep." Carol gently pulled Gael back down, letting her curl up against her side with her head on Carol's shoulder. Carol combed her fingers through Gael's silky hair, softly humming. Then, she heard Gael whisper, so softly that Carol almost thought she imagined it.

"Thank ye, Carol.

* * *

 _ **Hey, guys! You know the drill: please, please, PLEASE review! Reviews = motivation & inspiration to write. No reviews = little motivation & inspiration. I mean, my last upload before this one, a one-shot, has been up nearly a week and still 0 reviews. 57 views and no reviews. Just saying.**_

 _ **Oh! Please check out poll on my profile. So far only one blessed soul has voted so far. Whoever did deserves homemade cookies. Chocolate chip or snickerdoodle?**_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

The next morning, after sleeping in until nearly nine o' clock, Carol, Gaila, Nyota, and Gael went their own ways to prepare for the day.

"Until next time," Gaila playfully saluted over her shoulder as she headed back to her room. "Keep it real, chicas!" She turned around and walked backwards. "Great planning session, comrades! I think we'll just about be ready to strike next time!" she shouted for the benefit of the two male ensigns passing down the hallway. Their eyes grew wide as they took in four mischievously grinning females. Gaila winked at her "comrades" and cheerfully rounded the corner out of sight.

"Thanks fer havin' me last night," Gael smiled. "I had fun."

"Good," Nyota replied. "We expect to see you next month. It'll be in Carol's room."

"And we'd better see you before then," Carol said, hugging Gael. "Pop into the labs sometime, Commander Spock and I would love to show you round."

"I will," Gael answered, hugging Carol. "Thanks fer last night," she whispered, knowing that the woman would know what she was talking about.

"Any time, love," Carol whispered back.

Gael hugged Nyota good-bye then headed to her room. Due to a cloud contented sleepiness engulfing her (she was never awake before her morning cup of Irish Breakfast tea), she had not changed back into her clothes, meaning she was meandering down the halls in her pale science blue Starfleet pajamas. To her embarrassment, Jim and Spock passed her in the hall.

"Didn't think you were one to bum around in you jammies all day," Jim chuckled as he watched her face turn red when she recognized them.

"I'm no', Capt-I mean, Jim," she mumble, looking down at her bare feet. She knew she must be a sight; bare feet, wild bed-head, and sleepy eyes. "I was at Nyota's fer a girls' nigh'."

"Ah, yes, Nyota informed me that she would be inviting you to join her and the others that participate in the sacred female ritual of a 'sleep over'," Spock said. "Did you enjoy the experience? Nyota was most excited when you agreed to attend."

Gael giggled. _Sacred ritual indeed._ "Aye, Commander, I did," she answered. "We watched a few movies, ate ice cream, and Gaila painted mae nails." She raised her hand to show that her nails were now bright blue with silver Starfleet symbols on them.

"Hmm, fascinating."

Jim shook his head. "Well, we have to get to the bridge. See ya at lunch?"

"Aye, Captain!" She snapped off a mock-salute.

"Later, Gael!" Jim laughed as he reciprocated the salute and led Spock to the turbo lift at the end of the hall.

Gael ran the rest of the way back to her room and changed into a pair of dark jeans and a chocolate brown v-neck sweater. Pulling her hair up into a ponytail, she decided to go down to Engineering to find Mr. Scott.

After half an hour of wandering, she finally found her destination.

"Mister Scotty? Ye down here?" she called. A passing ensign heard her.

"He's up on level 2, Miss, making inspections," he said.

"Alright. Thank ye, sir," she replied. It took her another thirty minutes to find her way up to the second level and find him amid the tangle of catwalks and narrow passage ways.

"Miss Gael, lass, what are ye doin' down here?" He asked, spotting her wandering across a catwalk.

"Lookin' fer ye," she said with a smile. "I was hopin' tae get a tour, but if ye are too busy..."

"Well, I have a ton of inspections tae do today," he began.

"Oh."

"But I donnae see why ye couldnae tag along wi' us, if ye like."

"Really? I can come with ye?"

Scotty grinned at her enthusiasm. "Aye, come along, lass. There much tae see down here."

They spent the entire morning and well into the afternoon down there; Scotty making inspections and explaining how different part functioned, Gael following close behind him and soaking up everything he said. They stopped off in his office for a late lunch of sandwiches, before Scotty returned to making his rounds. He left Gael in office engrossed in a beginner's engineering text book, which she sat there and read for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.

"Gael, lass, what are ye still doin' here?" he asked when got off his shift and found her still in his office.

"Wha' time is it?" she asked.

"Nearly seven o' clock!" he answered. "Yer rather late fer supper, lass; auld Doc McCoy is likely frantic o'er ye by now!"

Just then, Scotty's communicator beeped. "Scotty here."

"Scotty, have you seen Gael?" McCoy's voice held barely concealed panic. "We've been seachin' for hours."

"Doctor," Scotty began, but McCoy plowed on.

"Nobody's seen her since this mornin'-"

"Doctor-"

"And, as far as we know, she didn't go to the mess for lunch; she was supposed to meet Jim, and nobody saw her at dinner either and...and...

"Leonard!" Gael shouted into the comm, effectively silencing the doctor.

"As I was tryin' tae tell ye, Doctor McCoy," Scotty said calmly. "Gael's been down here with me all day. Took her 'round with me on inspections till lunch, then she got caught up in a basic engineering text I loaned her. I was jus' bringin' her up now."

"She better be comin' back up here!" McCoy fumed. "Does that girl have any idea what she's put us through? We've been worried sick-"

"You've been worried sick, Bones," Kirk's voice came over the communicator. "I told you she was just fine, and I was right. She's been having a grand ol' time with Scotty, it sounds like."

"A grand ol' time, my foot!" McCoy countered. "She doesn't know anything about ships or engines or modern mechanics! Gael, you better-"

It sounded like Kirk and McCoy wrestled over their communicator, and, presumably, Kirk won. "Gael, I highly recommend you get up to Sickbay before Bones goes on another rampage. Kirk out."

Gael eyes went wide. "Another? Why would he be so upset?"

"That's Doctor McCoy fer ye; gettin' all hot and blustery is how he reacts tae these things. Shoulda seen him the day I broke mae hand working on the warp drive and didnae go tae Sickbay till after mae shift was o'er." Scotty took her hand and quickly led her to the turbo lift, calling out for the Sickbay level. All too soon the doors opened.

"Come along, lass," he said when she hesitated to leave the safety of the lift. He half dragged her all the way down the hall to Sickbay, only to have the doors swish open and expel a rather red-faced, angry-looking Southern doctor.

"I'm tired of waitin', Jim! Where is that girl so I can wring her pretty lil' Irish neck? If Scotty's tryin' ta hide her, I'll pin his Scottish hide ta the wall too!"

"Now, Bones-"

No, Jim-"

"Please, do not be threatening Miss Gael, Doctor!" Pavel, who was trailing behind Jim and McCoy, piped up. "Ve all are used to eet, but she will not be understanding eet."

Gael gulped, and McCoy suddenly caught sight of her. "You!" He tore down the hallway to her, Scotty scurrying out of the doctor's way. McCoy threw his arms around her, tightly holding her to his chest for a long moment before sharply pulling away, gripping her upper arms tightly, to begin his ranting again. "Do you have any idea what you've put us through?" McCoy's eyes expertly flicked up and down her body, checking for injuries as he spoke. "We've been lookin' for ya for over four hours, Missy! _Four hours!_ Ya weren't answerin' ya comm, ya didn't call to tell us where you were-"

Gael guilty felt her pockets; no communicator. She must have lost it somewhere.

"-Nothin'! And here we are, responsible for ya, and no idea what happened to ya! Ya could have been lost, or hurt, or...or...stuck somewhere for all we knew!"

Gael just stared up at him. She had never seen this side of Leonard before. She had never known him to to be angry; it kind of scared her. Suddenly, she could not hear his words; she just knew that he was shouting at hear, he suddenly seemed just like all of the other doctors who yelled at her. All she could do was whisper "I'm sorry." Suddenly, he was crushing her to his chest again. Bewildered, she turned her head to look at Jim, who just stood there with his arms crossed.

McCoy was a mess at the moment; remnants of fear, panic, and frustration lingered with the immense sense of relief and rush of affection for Gael that welled up in him. He was not sure if he was shouting or crying or laughing at the moment. He kinda felt like doing all three, but he was probably shouting. Shouting and blustering was his fallback to hide just how shook up or relieved he was, just how much he really cared. He was so worked up, he did not notice Gael's face grow pale. What he did notice was the single tear that ran down her face as she barely whispered out an apology. His fear, worry and frustration suddenly disappeared, and he pulled her back in to a tight hug, one hand gently cradling her head. He could feel the tears threatening to make themselves own in his own eyes as he rocked her back and forth. "Darlin'..." he began shakily. "Gael, please...I know I'm way over reactin' here...but, please...don't do this again," he whispered in her ear. "Don't think my poor ol' heart could take it." He felt her slowly nod, then pull away.

"I think I'll go back to mae room, now, Doctor," she whispered, not looking at him.

"Now, Gael Darlin'-"

"Good night, sir," she murmured and slipped off down the hall.

"Gael?"

"Bones,...I-I think you scared her," Jim said.

"I told you she vould not be understanding," Pavel commented in dismay. He pushed pasted the adults and took off after her. He caught up to her before she reached the end of the corridor. He offered his hand. Slowly, she reached out and took it, letting him lead her around the corner to the turbo lift.

McCoy stared at her retreating form in shock. It felt like a gaping hole had been suddenly ripped in his chest. He turned and went back to Sickbay without a word.

"Bones? Bones!"

"Doctor McCoy?"

Scotty and Kirk follow him into Sickbay and watched as McCoy practically collapsed on the nearest biobed, burying his face in his hands.

McCoy felt his world crashing to halt. _Oh gosh, I've scared her._ She had seemed to so well in adjusting these last few days, he had forgotten she was still so fragile. _Oh heavens, she's scared of me now._ He had just been so darn worried because he cared so dang much about her. _What have I done?_

* * *

 ** _Yeah, this is kind of a sad one...Poor McCoy...Poor Gael..._**

 ** _Please check out my pole on my profile, and vote. I'll be closing it soon._**


	17. Chapter 17

_**To reviewer Gryffyn Addams: Thank you so much for your review. If Gael, as a character, reads as real enough that you want to give her a hug, I am suceeding in one of my goals as an author. Thank you for your words of encouragement; they help me to know I'm on the right track!**_

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen**

The next week was murder for McCoy. Sickbay was too quiet, even with all of the patients coming in and out, and his office felt empty without Gael there. Everytime he tried to speak to her, she subtly shied away and would not look up at him. She would only speak to him if he addressed her first, and even then, her answers were usually one-worded.

His heart broke every he saw her across the mess hall or in one of the rec rooms. She was usually with at least one of the command crew, sitting there, quiet and pale, rarely talking. The result was an even gruffer, shorter-fused doctor that even the nurses tried to steer clear of.

Deep down, however, he was grateful for on thing: the command crew all seemed to rally around her, even Gaila and Carol helped. At least one of them was with Gael at all times; he had even seen Spock with her at lunch once. On Wednesday, he found them sitting across from each other, quietly eating in a corner. As he watched, he saw Spock explaining the Vulcan plomeek soup on their trays. She nodded in understanding and took a bite. She considered it a moment, then added a little bit of salt. Much to both Spock's and McCoy's surprise she seemed to really enjoy the extra-terrestral delicacy.

On Friday, McCoy entered the mess hall, and was greeted by the sight of Gael eating dinner with Scotty, Pavel, and Sulu, grease stains still on her face and denim overalls from a day in Engineering. Scotty had told him earlier in the week that Gael had been spending a lot off time down in Engineering, and she was a fast learner. The CEO figured she was already on level with cadets who had completed their first year at the Academy. Also, she had spent an afternoon with Uhura at her communication station on the bridge. Uhura reported that the girl had quickly learned several phrases of Klingon, Vulcan, and Romulan, all with good pronunciation, although her thick Irish accent was still affected the way she said them. Also, Gael was quick to pick up the operation of the communication station.

McCoy let his lips turn upward in a bittersweet smile. He was proud of her accomplishments, and all he wanted to do was hug her tightly and tell her so. But he could not. He could not get her to even look at him, much less hug him. So, he settled for watching from a few tables away, trying not be jealous when Scotty slung an arm around Gael's shoulders and coaxed a small smile from the girl's lips.

* * *

 _ **Sorry this one is so short; I've had a lot going on in my life recently.**_

 ** _Note: My pole is closed. The results were McCoy 6, Chekov 6, Kirk 3, Scotty 2, and Sulu 0. (Seriously? No love for poor Sulu?) Guess I'll have to find a way to break the tie._**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

That week both sped by and crawled for Gael. During the day, she was mostly down in Engineering, quickly learning everything Scotty would teach her. As long as she was working, she was content. She grew close to command crew, who seemed to take it upon themselves to never let her alone for long during the day. Even Commander Spock, who had previously had almost no interaction with the Irish girl, invited her to lunch with him one day. He introduced her to Vulcan plomeek soup and willing answered her endless questions about Vulcan culture.

As long as she was with someone and busy, she was fine.

However, at night, when she went to bed, she felt so alone and lost. She missed McCoy. She missed how he hugged her, how he "settled her in" at night, how he talked, how he would press light kisses to her forehead or into her hair almost without realizing it. She missed helping him in Sickbay, she missed their teasing banter... _she missed him_. But she just could not get the image of him angry and yelling out of her head...


	19. Chapter 19

_**Author's note: While there is nothing inappropriately explicit, there is attempted sexual assult in this chapter. I just felt like you should be warned.**_

 **Chapter Nineteen**

Saturday dawned bright and early for Gael. She rose, dressed in her favorite purple blouse and a pair of jeans, then headed to the dining hall to meet Scotty for breakfast.

After breakfast with Scotty, she headed to the science labs where Carol and Spock were waiting to show her around. Gael spent all morning with the science officers, absorbing all of the information they told her. At noon, she said goodbye and headed to lunch where she was supposed to meet Jim, Pavel, and Hikaru. Half way there, she was stopped by a crewmember in a red uniform.

"Hey, Miss! You dropped this!" he called, dashing up from behind her. He held out a communicator. Gael checked her pockets and found hers still there.

"Sorry, sir, tha' no-" Before she could complete her sentence, he grabbed her, clamping a hand over her mouth to muffle her scream. He dragged her down several corridors till he threw her into a small supply closet. As the door swished shut behind them, he shoved her up against the wall.

"Wha' do ye think ye are doin'?" she cried when his hand slipped from her mouth.

He ignored her question. "Even lovelier than the reports said," he mumbled, his eyes raking over her body in a way that made her skin crawl. "This is a reminder, Subject 23," he added, his eyes snapping back up to hers. "Did you honestly think you were rid of us?"

Gael's blood ran cold. "Who are ye?" She whispered fearfully.

"I think you know exactly who. I know you haven't forgotten us," he answered, burying his nose in the crook of her neck. He began trailing kisses down to her shoulder. "You know," he continued between kisses, "the files...say...that the previous guards...were allowed...to have fun with you...I think...I'll do the same...I did find you...for them...after all..."

Gael struggled against him, but he back handed her so hard she lost her balance and fell.

"You have forgotten your place, Subject 23," he said angrily. "Looks like I'll have to re-teach you." He held up a pair of hand restraints and yanked her to her feet.

Jim was getting worried. Gael had commed him when she left the science labs to let him know she was on her way. It was a five minute walk to the dining hall from the labs. Ten minutes had passed since her comm. She should be here by now.

"Hey, Jim, how's it going?"

Jim looked up to see McCoy. "Quiet morning, Bones," he answered. "Have you seen Gael?"

"No, why?"

"She vas supposed to be here five meenites ago," Pavel said.

"Have you tried comming her?" McCoy suggested.

"She commed us when she left the labs." Jim pulled out his communicator. "Kirk to Gael. Do you read me, sweetheart?" he said into the device. "This is Kirk to Gael." Silence reigned.

"Do you think something happened? I've got a bad feeling about this, Jim." McCoy said.

"Relax, Bones, she probably stopped to talk to someone and got delayed," Jim answered.

"I'll check with the computer," Sulu said. "It should know where she is." Thirty seconds after he left, Sulu came running back. "She's stuck in a supply closet with a Security ensign!" he cried. "Gael doesn't know anyone from Security!"

"Which one?" McCoy asked.

"34 A."

McCoy immediately dashed from the room. He pelted down the corridors until he found the right door. He punched the button to open the door. It hissed open to reveal Gael pressed up against the wall by a large, burly security crewman, and her arms restrained behind her back. He had one arm at her throat to keep her in place, and the other hand fiddled with the closure of her jeans as he kissed his way down her pale stomach. Her blouse had been torn open, leaving her torso completely exposed. Tears streamed from her eyes.

McCoy took this all in in approximately 1.2 seconds, and saw red. He threw himself at the crewman, his fists swinging. Jim and Security Chief Hendorff (A.K.A. "Cupcake") showed up moments later. Jim had to pry a raging McCoy off of the already unconscious crewman, whom Hendorff dragged away.

McCoy immediately turned to Gael. "What did he do to you, Darlin'? Please, talk to me!"

" _Athair_!" she cried as she rush forward to bury her face in the doctor's chest. McCoy held up her trembling form as Jim carefully removed the restraints. Gael babbled almost hysterically in Gaelic between sobs.

"Darlin'," McCoy soothed. "Ya gotta calm down; I can't understand Gaelic." He let go of her long enough to yank off his outer blue uniform shirt, pull it gently over her head, and guide her arms through the sleeves. She immediately latched back onto him.

Jim gently rubbed circles on her back. "It's alright now, Gael. Cupcake's taking that son of a...gun down to the brig. I've ordered him locked up until further notice; he won't touch you again."

Gael nodded into McCoy's black undershirt.

"I've got ya, Darlin'," McCoy murmured. "I've got ya." In one smooth motion, he lifted her up in a bridal carry.

"You take care of her, Bones. I'm headed to the brig to deal with the creep." Jim said. "Chekov and Sulu had to head up to the bridge; I'll let them know what happened."

McCoy nodded and headed to Sickbay. He went right in, passed all of the protesting nurses and went in his office. He gently set her down on the couch. Her crying had quieted to sniffles, but she was still shaking. He wrapped her up in the quilt he always kept there and began running his tricorder over her. "Ya need ta talk ta me, Darlin'," he said softly, his accent making itself known in his concern. "Did he hurt you in any way?"

"He hit me on the cheek," she said quietly after a long pause.

"Yeah, the bruise is beginning to show," he answered. "Anything else?"

"My wrists," she murmured. "He put on th' han' cuffs really tight." He took her hands in his and examined her wrists. They were already mottled purple and blue like the hand print on her cheek. He dug around in his medkit and pulled out a silver ointment tube.

"Here, let's put some of this on ya," he said as he unscrewed the cap. "It'll take care of the soreness and make the bruising disappear in a few hours." He carefully applied it to her wrists and face. "How's that, Darlin'?"

"Better," she sighed, pulling the quilt more firmly around her shoulders.

"You still cold?" he asked.

"I jus'...cannae stop seeing...feeling him..."

McCoy sat beside her and pulled her close. He almost wanted to cry with joy when she let him. "Shhh, it's alright now, Gael," he soothed, gently stroking her hair.

Gael held tightly to McCoy. She had forgotten just how good it felt to be held by him. She felt whole, complete, safe. She curled up against his side and murmured " _Is breá liom tú, a Athair_."

* * *

 _ **I know it may seem McCoy and Gael made up kinda quick, but actuall "make upl" scene is in chapters to come. I just felt that conversation is not you have when one of those involved has jsut been assulted.**_

 _ **Is breá liom tú, a Athair = I love you, Father (Irish Gaelic translation by .)**_

 _ **To Perky511: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you have enjoyed it!**_


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